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CQEXRIGHT D-EPOSm 



"VVSders^Tropics 



OR 



EXPLORATIONS AND ADVExNTURES 

OF 

HENRY M. STANLEY 

AND OTHER WORLD -RENOWNED TRAVELERS, 

INCI.UDING 

J-iiYingstone, paker, Cameron, Speke, pmin pasha, 
Pu Chaillu, ^ndersson, etc., etc. 

CONTAINING 

Willingficcount^of Famous B^^pedition^, 

MIRACULOUS ESCAPES, WIT.D SPORTS OF THE JUNGEE AND PLAIN, 
CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF SAVAGE RACES, JOURNEYS IN UN- 
KNOWN LANDS, AND MARVELOUS DISCOVERIES 
IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA, 

TOGETHER WITH 

GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF BEAUTIFUL SCENERY, FERTILE VALLEYS, 
VAST FORESTS, MIGHTY RIVERS AND CATARACTS, INLAND SEAS, 
y\A^ J^ MINES OF UNTOLD WEALTH, FEROCIOUS BEASTS, ETC., ETC. 

THE WHOLE COMPRISING A 

Vast Treasury of all that is Maroelous and Wonderful 

IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 



17^ 

By henry davenport NORTHROR 

Author of ''Earth, Sea, and Sky;' etc., et/^-^^" cOPYR(GHr"% 




Embellished Witii more than, ^00 gtril^ing I 



NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

Philadelphia, Pa. ; Chicago, III., and St. Louis, Mo. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by 

J. R. JONES, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



A 






PREFACE. 

The wonderful discoveries and thrilling adventures of the world's 
greatest explorer, Henry M. Stanley, are related in this new work. It is 
a record of the most daring achievements and heroic deeds of modern 
times, describing the long and perilous journeys, the terrible sufferings, 
the brilliant conflicts with ferocious men and beasts, the grand discoveries, 
which have awakened intense interest and aroused thfe enthusiastic 
admiration of all civilized nations. 

The work depicts the brave struggles and hard-earned .successes of 
Stanley's early life, from the poor boy, dependent on charity, to the sturdy 
young soldier, carrying the knapsack and rifle. He becomes a corres- 
pondent of one of our great daily journals, is suddenly despatched to 
Africa to find the famous explorer, Livingstone, and enters upon his. 
marvelous career. 

Stanley's first great journey in the Dark Continent is vividly described. 
The reader follows the mighty explorer, becomes a sharer of his hard- 
ships and perils, and journeys with him through a land wonderful for the 
richness and variety of its recources, the grandeur and beauty of its 
scenery, the abundance of its animal life, and the remarkable traits and 
customs of its savage races. 

Before the onward march of the famous explorer, a path opens through 
the thickest jungle ; broad rivers shrink to rivulets; the rugged pass be- 
comes a smooth highway; wild animals flee in dismay; the American 
axe hews down sturdy forests ; the frail canoe descends foaming rapids 
and crosses inland seas; the Dark Continent gives up.the secrets that 
have baffled the world for thousands of years. 

The reader shares the thrill of excitement, joy and triumph, as Stanley, 
after the most heroic struggle, finds Livingstone and, grasps his hand! 

Stanley's next expedition, from Zanzibar right across the continent.to the 
Congo, is so full of perilous adventure, so remarkable for pluck, and 
\esolution, that it stands out boldly as the greatest achievement of our 
times. He vanishes from the sight of the civilized world. Weeks and 
months pass, and no intelligence comes from the intrepid explorer. 
Curiosity as to his fate becomes anxiety, and the anxiety grows into ter- 
rible suspense. Seasons roll their rounds .and. still no. news from. Stanley! 

0) 



11 PREAFCE. 

After untold privations, daring deeds and amazing triumphs, Stanley- 
emerges from the wilds of the Dark Continent amidst the acclamations of 
both hemispheres. The nineteenth century records no triumph more 
sublime than that of crossing, from sea to sea, this wild country, which 
had hitherto baffled all attempts to explore its silent mysteries. But the 
dazzling achievements of our great hero were not completed. Emin 
Pasha was located somewhere in the tropical wilderness, and struggling 
to hold the country of which he was ruler. Again Stanley hastened to 
the rescue ; again he was lost in the wilds of Africa ; again the interest 
of the world was awakened concerning his fate; and in this last great 
triumph he has put the climax upon all his previous explorations and 
victories, having crossed the Dark Continent again, this time from west 
to east. 

This work also gives a full and thrilling account of the marvelous dis- 
coveries of other world-renowned travelers in the Tropics. The reader 
is made a fellow-explorer with the immortal Livingstone, who traversed 
boundless regions where the foot of civilized man had never trod; 
with Sir Samuel Baker, Speke and Grant, whose daring expeditions in 
Central Africa place them in the front rank of modern heroes ; with 
Du Chaillu, Cameron, Andersson, Baldwin and others, whose undaunted 
bravery in the face of danger, and victories over bloodthirsty savages and 
wild beasts, have a resistless fascination. 

A brilliant panorama of tropical wonders passes before the reader's 
gaze. He traverses vast and. fertile plains, luxuriant valleys and desert 
wastes. He sees savage tribes in their curious costumes ; their strange 
marriage customs ; their ludicrous superstitions ; their reckless deeds of 
violence ; their monstrous social and religious rites, involving the frightful 
sacrifice of human life. He witnesses grotesque war-dances ; singular 
freaks of medicine men and rain makers; and strange antics of wizards. He 
beholds the majestic lion, the gigantic hippopotamus and fierce crocodile, 
monkey tribes, gorillas and venomous boa-constrictors, the fleet-footed 
ostrich, giraffe and zebra, the huge rhinoceros and bounding gazelle, and 
the ponderous elephant jarring the earth with his heavy tread. He wit- 
nesses the adventures of the chase, and deeds of daring surpassing the 
most startling tales of romance. He is captivated with tropical birds, 
arrayed in plumage of unrivalled beauty, and with brilliant forms of insect 
life, wonderful as the gigantic beasts of the plain and jungle. 

Stanley's recent expedition for the relief of the world-renowned Emin 
Pasha fixes upon him the gaze of all civilized peoples. The latest adven- 
tures and discoveries are fully narrated in this work. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 

A Remarkable Man — Solving the Mysteries of the Dark Continent — Stanley's Birth in 
Wales — Sent in Early Life to the Almshouse at St. Asaph — A Teacher in Flint- 
shire—Struggling to Obtain Means for an Education — The Restless Spirit Show- 
ing itself— Seeking the New World — A Cabin Boy, Bound from Liverpool to New 
Orleans — The Welsh Boy Adopted by Stanley of New Orleans — Honesty and 
Capacity of the Boy — Death of Stanley's Benefactor — No Property Falls to the 
Adopted Son — Stanley in California — A Free and Happy Life Among Bold Ad- 
venturers — The School of Human Nature — Power of Endurance and Readiness 
for Daring Enterprises — Carrying the Knapsack and Rifle — A Soldier in the 
Confederate Army — Captured by Union Forces — Becomes Connected with the 
New York Herald — Off for the Battle-field in Turkey — Robbed by Brigands — 
Stanley Returns to England — The Children's Dinner at the Poorhouse — Sent 
by James Gordon Bennett with the British Abyssinian Expedition — Stanley's 
Messages First to Reach London — Livingstone Lost in Africa — Remarkable 
Midnight Interview with Mr. Bennett — "Find Livingstone at any Cost" 17 

CHAPTER n. 

THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 

. Africa a World of Surprises and Wonders — ^Journeys of Livingstone — The Young 
Scotch Boy — Born of Noble Parentage— An Ancestry of Sturdy Scotch Qualities — 
David's Factory Life — Eager Thirst for Knowledge — Tending the Loom, with 
One Eye on His Book — Studying Latin — A Lover of Heroic Deeds — Early 
Promise of Rising to Distinction — Resolves to Become a Medical Missionary in 
China — Departure for Africa — Physical Nerve and Endurance — Encounter with a 
Ferocious Lion — Livingstone's Narrow Escape — Gordon Cumming's Descrip- 
tion of the Noble Beast — A Powerful Animal — Beauty of the Lion — Roar of the 
Forest King — Frightful Ferocity — The Lion's Fearlessness — Requirements of 
Lion Hunters— Brave Character of Livingstone 33 

CHAPTER III. 
LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 

Livingstone's Life Among the Backwains — An Intelligent Chief — Trying to Whip 
the Heathen into Conversion — Appearance of the Backwains — Peculiar Head- 
Dress— Expert Thieves — A Bewitched Kettle — A Horrible Deed — An African 
Congress — Thrilling War Songs — Carrying on War for Glory — Livingstone's 

(iii) 



IV CONTENTS. 

Interest in this Tribe— Singular Superstitions — Medicine Men and Rain Doctors — 
Barbarous Practices — Severe Training for Boys — The Girls' Ordeal — Romantic 
Dances — Construction of Houses — Curious Burial Customs — Funeral Dances 
Among the Latookas — An Active Chief — The Rich No Better Than the Poor — 
Odd Decorations— ^Graceful Movements 47 

CHAPTER IV. 

A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 

Livingstone's Great Interest in the Makololo Tribe — The Fate of Ancient Nations — 
Extraordinary Changes in Southern Africa — Obscure Origin of the Hottentots — 
Displaced by the More Powerful Kaffirs — The Great Chief of the Makololo — 
Severe Punishment for Cowards — A Royal Young Snob — Fear of the Ferocious 
Lion — Headlong Charge of the Buffalo upon Hunters — Livingstone's Story of 
His Wagon — A Race in Eating — Frightful Battle with Hippopotami — Frail Boat 
Surrounded by Ugly Brutes — Superior Makololo Women — Mode of Building 
Houses — Strong Walls and Thatched Roofs — Strange Ideas of a Boatman — 
Offenders Flung to Crocodiles — Dividing the Spoils of Hunting — Sports of 
African Children — A Queen's Opinion of White People — Better Looking than 
she Imagined — A Grotesque and Exciting Dance... 77 

CHAPTER V. 
PERILS OF TROPICAL EXPLORATIONS. 

Remarkable Successes of Livingstone — Forming a Station in the Wilderness — The 
Explorer Builds a House — Search for a Great Lake— A Desert with Prodigious 
Herds of Wild Animals — Starting on a Perilous Journey — Wagons Left in Charge 
of Natives — Travelling in Frail Canoes — Haunts of the Hippopotami — Thrilling 
Adventure with Crocodiles — Frantic Struggles to Escape from Death — Shooting 
the Huge Monster — Seized with a Sudden Horror— A Great Splash and a Cry of 
Joy— Ancient Crocodiles with Immense Jaws — Exciting Encounter with a 
River-Horse — A Remarkable Chief — Rivers and Swamps Breeding Fevers — 
Reaching the Banks of the Zambesi — Prevalence of a Troublesome Fly — A 
Magnificent River — Livingstone's Journey of a Thousand Miles with his Family — 
Malicious Attack by the Dutch Boers — Livingstone's House Plundered — The 
Explorer Reaches the Capital of the Makololo — Cordial Welcome from the 
Natives — The Young King Has a Rival — Ascending the Great River Zambesi — 
Attempt on the Life of the King — Makololo Architecture — A Grand Dance — 
Expedition to the West — The Balonda Country — A Visit to Shinti— Scarcity ol 
Food — Arrival at Loanda — Attacked by Savages— On the Leeba— Arrival at 
Linyanti 98 

CHAPTER VI. 
STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 

Dangers of River Navigation — Luxuriant Wild Fruits — Skillful Management of Canoes 
by Natives — Magnificent Scenery — Man Seized by a Crocodile— Beautiful Flowers 
and Wild Honey — Strapping Chieftainess Smeared with Fat and Red Ochre — 
Pompous Chief— Curious Piano — Portuguese Traders — Warm Reception to the 



CONTENTS v.. 

Explorers— Lifting off Roofs of Houses to Cover the Travellers — A Chief who Killed 
His Subjects for Amusement— Remarkable Custom for Cementing Friendship — 
Tricksters who Want Money — Livingstone Suffers from Fever — Savage Attack 
upon the Expedition — Using Charms and Cuppiiig for Sickness — Black Corporal 
for an Escort— Beautiful Country Going to Waste — Vast Herds of Cattle— Ar 
Ornamental Garden — Natives Astonished by Strange Sights — Generous Gifts o f 
Jolly Tars— "Stones that Burn" — An Attractive Town — The Irrepressible Don- 
key — Strange Belitf in Evil Spirits— Grotesque Head-dresses — Fine Sport with 
the Gun — The Expedition Travelling in Small Canoes — Livingstone Charged by 
a Buffalo — Noisy Welcome to the Explorers — Troops of Elephants 103 

CHAPTER VII. 
ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 

Livingstone's Resolve to Reach the East Coast — A Fine Race of Negroes— One hun- 
dred and fourteen Trustworthy Men — The Brave Leaders of the Company — A 
Terrible Strorm- Sailing Down the River — Far-famed Victoria Falls — Scene of 
Extreme Beauty — Ascending Clouds of Spray — Immense Baobab Tree — Strange 
Mode of Salutation— Traffic in Ivory— Buffalo Brought Down with the Rifle — 
Presents from a Peace-loving Chief— Vast Numbers of Wild Animals — Huge 
Hippopotami and their Young — How the Natives Capture Elephants — Strange 
Appearance of the Natives — Mouths like those of Ducks — Hostilities by a Village 
Chief— Remains of an Old Portuguese Settlement— The Doctor's Ox Gallops off- 
Strange Cries and Waving Fire-brands — Visit from two Old Men — American Cal- 
ico in a Far Land — Surprising Instinct of the Elephant — The Enormous Beast 
Taught to Work for his Master— A New Way of Laying Timbers — Remarkable 
Story by an English Officer — Extraordinary Sagacity of the Elephant — Dangers 
in the Path of the Expedition — Great Risk from Being Attacked by Lions — Dread- 
ful Encounter with a King of the Forest— A " Civilized Breakfast" — Kind Recep- 
tion by an English Major — Natives who Plant Gold for Seed — Tree Supposed to 
Have Remarkable Medical Virtues — Four Years away from Cape Town — Ravages 
of Famine — A Chief who Wishes to Visit England — Seized with Insanity and Lost 
Overboard — Livingstone arrives in England 137 

CHAPTER VIII. 
AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 

Fresh Start for a Long Exploring Tour — An English Steamer in African Waters — 
Battle between the Portuguese and a Savage Chief— Rescue of the Governor — 
The "Ma-Robert" Commences Her Voyage — Astonishment of the Natives — 
Hardships of Travelling in the Tropics — A Swift C&taract— The Murchinson 
Falls — A Chief Loses His Little Girl — Natives Obstructing the Exiiedition— 
Searching for a Great Lake — Pursued by a Buffalo— Trap for the Hijipopota 
mus— Failure to. Recover the Lost Child — Singular Ideas of Female Beauiy— Fear- 
ful Cry from the River — A Native's Deadly Combat with a Crocodile — Monsters 
Hatched from Eggs —Discovery of the Great Lake— Scarcity of Water — Return 
of the " Ma Robert " — A Conspicuous Fraud — Hostile Chief Conciliated — Abun- 
dance of Game and Numerous Lions — Sketch of the Batoka Tribe— Peculiar 
Fashion of Wearing the Hair — Masters of the Canoe— Perils among Breakers— 



VI CONTENTS. 

Very Polite Savages— Singular Customs and Ceremonies— Fearless Hunters — Na- 
tive Belief in a Future Existence — Melodious Sounds of Music— African Poets — 
Incorrigible Liars — Put to Death for Bewitching a Chief— Gang of Cattle Steal- 
ers — Adventure with a River Horse — Man Saved on a Rock — Tropical Chame- 
leon — A Marveleous Reptile— Shifting Colors — Seized by a Crocodile — Horse 
and Rider Terribly Wounded 159 

CHAPTER IX. 

BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 

Setting Out in a Leaky Vessel — A Losing Adventure — Bishop Mackenzie's Arrival — 
The " Pioneer" gets Aground— Description of a Well-known tribe — Farming in 
Africa— Generous Hospitality — Remarkable Costumes — Elegant Tattooing — 
Natives that Seldom Wash — An African Dancing Party — Belief in Visits from 
Departed Spirits — Burning Villages — Battle with Ajawa Warriors— Transporting 
the Boats Overland — Sudden and Terrific Siorm — Air Thick with Midges — 
Enormous Crocodiles — Camp Plundered by Thieves— Dangers Thicken — The 
Expedition on its Return — Mrs. Livingstone's Arrival — Deaths of Bishop Mac- 
kenzie and Mrs. Livingstone — Lonely Graves in a Strange Land — Bullets and 
Poisoned Arrows— Immense Flocks of Beautiful Birds — The Fiery Flamingo — 
Wine from the Palm — A Bird's Extraordinary Nest— Odd Specimen of the Monkey 
Tribes — Deserted Country — Lord Russell Recalls the Expedition — Alarm from 
Savage Invaders — The " Pioneer" Disabled— Livingstone at Bombay 190 

CHAPTER X. 
LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Sensation Caused by Livingstone's Discoveries — New Expedition — Arrival at Zan- 
zibar — Hard March Across thtl Country — Desertion of Sepoys — Arrival on the 
Shores of the Lake— No Canoes — Report of Murders by Arabs — Desertions 
Among the Men— Story of Livingstone's Death — Excitement in England— Expe- 
dition Sent to Learn the Explorer's Fate— Ravages by a Savage Tribe — Thieves 
in the Camp— Loss of the Medicine Chest — Sufferings from Fever — Arrival at 
Tanganyika — A New Lake on the West — Further Progress Stopped — Patient 
Waiting — Off for the New Lake at Last — Down the Lake to Cazembe's-High 
and Mighty Potentate — Formal Reception to Livingstone — Presents to the Chief- 
Shocking Stories of Human Sacrifices — Cropping off Ears and Lopping off 
Hands — A Tribe that Smelts Copper-ore— Hot Springs and Frequent Earth- 
quakes — Exploring Lake Bangweolo— Grave in the Forests — " Poor Mary Lies on 
Shupanga Brae " — Rernarkable Discovery — Modesty of the Great Explorer.. ..219 

CHAPTER XI. 
TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 

Great Excitement Among the Natives by the Presence of a White Man — Cruise on a 
Large Lake— Strike of Canoe-Men — Only a Coverlet with which to hire another 
Canoe— Food Obtained by Shooting Buffaloes — Fine Sport for the Hunter — How 
the Buffalo is Hunted— Thrillincr Adventure with the Huge Brute— A Hottentot 



CONTENTS. Vll 

Dodging in the Bushes — Terrible Foe — Adventure of a Friend of Livingstone — 
A Dangerous Meeting with Two Lions — Charge of a Mad Buffalo — Livingstone 
Pursues His Journey — A Country Convulsed by War — Mohammed and other 
Arab Traders — Flight for Life — Livingstone Pacifies the Natives — Return of 
Deserters — Start for Ujiji— Serious Illness — A Dauntless Hero — Encounter with 
an Elephant— Beautiful Monkeys in the Forest — Thousands of Ants on the 
March — Graphic Description of Manyuema — Degraded Tribe of Cannibals — 
Market Scene in Manyuema — Terrible Massacre — Disastrous Attempt to Go 
Forward — Lake Named after President Lincoln — The Explorer's Account cf the 
Soko — Freaks of a Strange Animal — A Wild Creature that Never Attacks 
Women — Amusing Female Soko — Ten Men with Stores Meet Livingstone — 
Shocking Barbarity — Hundreds of Lives Lost— Shameful Cruelty and Destruc- 
tion — Off on Foot for Ujiji — Near to Death— People Who Eat Their Enemies- 
Arrival at Ujiji — Sick, Worn out and m Desperate Straits 246 

CHAPTER XII. 
STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 

Livingstone Traced to Ujiji — Search Expedition Organized in England — Alarm and 
Sorrow at the News of Livingstone's Death — News Discredited by Sir Roderick 
Murchison — Mr. Young Sent Out to Find the Lost Explorer — The Little Steel 
Vessel — The Expedition Hears of a White Man— Traces of Livingstone — :Natives 
Know Livingstone by His Photograph — Cheering News— Another Search Expe- 
dition — Money Eagerly Subscribed — Men Selected for the Undertaking — Stanley 
Leads the Way — Stanley on the March— Guides, Carriers and Donkeys — Band 
Music and Lively Songs — Natives Carrying Heavy Burdens on their Heads, — 
Perils and Difficulties of the Journey — Qualities Required in an Explorer — 
Tangled Brake and Wild Animals— The Ferocious Rhinoceros — Excitements of 
the Chase— A Monster Fleet as a Gazelle — Conflict Between an Elephant and 
Rhinoceros — Mr. Oswald s Narrow Escape — The Hunter Scarred for Life — 
Stanley s Misfortunes — Sentence of Flogging on a Deserter — The Donkey Whip — 
Daughter of an Infamous King — Urging Forward the Caravan -Sending Away a 
Sick Man — Stanley Frii^htens an Arab Sheik — Across Marshes and Rivers — Half 
Buried in a Swamp— Stanley's Graphic Account — Pursuit of a Runaway — The 
Fugitive Captured— Two Dozen Lashes and Put in Irons — The Captor Re- 
warded — Coral Beads for a Native's Wife 277 

CHAPTER XIII. 

STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 

Stanley's Marvellous Courage and Enterprise — Abundance of Supplies — Perils Sur- 
rounding the Expedition— Paying Tribute to Chiefs — Dense Jungles and Thickets 
of Thorns — A Country Teeming with Noble Game — A Merry Bugler and His 
Horn — Stanley Invited to the House of a Sheik- Three Caravans Arrive m 
S.ifety — Letters to Livingstone Long Delayed — Illness of Stanley — The Explorer 
Senseless for Two Weeks— Shaw Agam Breaks Down— Chief Mirambo Disputes 
the March of the Expedition— Stanley Joins the Arab Forces — Deadly Encounter 
with Mirambo — Stanley's Graphic Account of the Conflict — Mirambo Gets His 
Foe into Ambush — Disastrous Defeat of the Arab Forccs — Stanley s Hasty 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Flight— Setting off Hurridly at Midnight — Urging Forward the Donkeys — Safe at 
Last — Arab Boy Faithful to His American Master — News of Farquhar's Death — 
Burning a Village— Mirambo Retreats — Stanley's Little Slave Boy — How the 
Name Kalulu was Obtained — Shaw is Sent Back — Narrow Escape From a Croco- 
dile — Capture of an Immense Reptile — A Traveler's Startling Adventure — 
Mutiny in Stanley's Camp — Securing the Friendship of a Powerful Chief Home 
of the Lion and the Leopard— Stanley in Pursuit of Adventure— Encounter witli 
a Wild African Boar — Kalulu Badly Frightened— Crossing a P. rilous Rivtr- 
Exciting News of a White Man— Stanley Longs for a Horse — Expedition in High 
Spirits — More Demand for Tribute — A Bivouac in Silence — Passing Through an 
African Village— Great Alarm Among ihe Natives— Arrival at Last — March of 
Two Hundred and Thirty six Days 297 

CHAPTER XIV. 
STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 

Stanley's Perseverance — Mastering Mountains of Difficulty — Bent on Finding Living- 
stone — Characteristics of the Two Great Explorers — Livingstone's Touching 
Reference to the Death of His Wife — Wonderful Results of African Exploration — 
Stanley Approaches Ujiji— News of a Brother White Man — Great Exciternent 
Among the Travellers — Unfurling Flags and Firing Guns — Ujiji Surprised by the 
Coming of the Caravan— People Rushing by Hundreds to Meet Stanley — Joyous 
Welcome — Meeting the Servant of Livingstone — Flags, Streamers and Greet- 
ings — Livingstone's Surprise — The Great Travellers Face to Face— Stanley 
Relating the News of the Past Six Years— Livingstone's Personal Appearance — 
A Soldier from Unyanyembe — A Celebrated Letter Bag — Letters a Year Old — 
Narrative of Great Events — What Livingstone Thought of Stanley's Arrival — 
Letter to James Gordon Bennett — The Explorer's Forlorn Condition — On the 
Eve of Death when Stanley Arrived — Livingstone Thrilled by Mr. Bennett's 
Kmdness— Some Account of flie Country Visited— Discussing Future Plans — 
Stanley's Description of Livingstone — Fine Example of the Anglo-Saxon Spirit — 
Life Given to Ethiopia's Dusky Children — Livingstone's Marvellous Love for 
Africa 317 

CHAPTER XV. 
LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 

Stanley and Livingstone at Ujiji— Cruise on Lake Tanganyika — GiantS' of African 
Discovery — Meetmg Enemies Upon the Shores — Geographers who Never Travel 
— Dusky Forms Dodging From Rock to Rock — Mountains Seven Thousand Feet 
High— Important Discovery — Livingstone's Desperate Resolve — Stanley Leaves 
for Zanzibar — Affecting Parting Between the Two Great Explorers — Living- 
stone's Intended Route — Later Search Expeditions — Livingstone's Sad and 
Romantic History — Timely Arrival of Reinforcements from Stanley — Start for 
the Southwest at Last Made — Without Food for Eight Days— Westward Once 
More— Continued Plunging In and Out of Morasses — Turbid Rivers and Miry 
Swamps— Natives Afraid of the White M.m -Extract from the " Last Journals" — 
Crossing the Chambeze— Gigantic Difficuhies Encountered— Livingstone Again 
Very 111— " Pale, Bloodless and Weak from Profuse Bleeding "—Rotten Tents 



CONTENTS. ix- 

Torn to Shreds — The Last Service — Livingstone Carried on a Litter — The Doctor 
Falls from His Donkey— A Night's Rest in a Hut — Natives Gather Round the 
Litter— A Well-known Chief Meets the Caravan — The Last Words Livingstone 
Ever Wrote— The Dying Hero Slowly Carried by Faithful Attendants — The Last 
Stage— Drowsiness and Insensibility — Ljing Under the Broad Eaves of a Native 
Hut — The Final Resting Place — Livingstone's Dying Words — The World's Great 
Hero Dead — Sorrowful Procession to the Coast — Body Transported to England — 
Funeral in Westminster Abbey — Crowds of Mourners and Eloquent Eulogies — 
Inscription on the Casket 332 

CHAPTER XVI. 
STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 

Stanley's Absorbing Interest in Livingstone's Explorations — His Resolve to Find a 
Path from Sea to Sea — A Man of Remarkable Enterprise — Determined to Accom- 
plish His Object at Any Cost — Description of the Congo Region — Once the Most 
Famous Kingdom of Africa — A King Glorious in Trinkets — People Prostrating 
Themselves Before Their Monarch — The Whims of a Despot — Taxes Levied oh 
Furniture — Killing Husbands to Get Their Wives — Strange and Savage Cus- 
toms — Messengers Collecting Slaves and Ivory— A Nation Famous as Elephant 
Hunters and Men Stealers— Worship of a Wicked Deity — Priests with Absolute 
Power — Sacred Fire Burning Continually — A Priest so Holy That He Cannot Die 
a Natural Death — Test of Red Hot Iron Applied to the Skin — How the Congoese 
Disfigure Themselves — Outlandish Dress — Husbands Rebuked for Neglecting to 
Beat Their Wives— Pipes and Palm Wine — A Notorious Queen — Followed by a 
Host of Lovers — Horrible Practices — Slaughter of Male Children — The Queen's 
Tragic End — Queen Shinga and Her Daring Exploits— Female Demon— Universal 
Polygamy— Eating Habits of the Congo Tribes — Agonies of Indigestion — Singular 
Modes of Salutation — Stanley's Description of Welcoming Strangers — Love for 
Titles and Sounding Names— How Wives Manage Husbands — Famous Old King 
of the Gaboon — King William's Principal Wife — A Monarch Arrayed in Scarlet — 
Ferocious Tribes— Traders and Their Wares — Stanley's Description of the Coun- 
try — Superstitions and Paganism — Animal Life in Congo — Antelopes, Zebras and 
Buffaloes — Beautiful Monkey Tribe — Wild Attack of Cannibals — Immense War- 
Boat — Eveilasting Din of Drums — Horns Carved out of Elephants' Tusks— Wild 
War Cry — Singular Temple of Ivory — Horrid Monument of Mud and Skulls. ..350 

CHAPTER XVn. 

STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 

The Greatest Feat on Record— Stanley's Journey Across the Continent to the Congo — 
Expedition Planned by the Daily Telegraph of London and the New York 
//'^ra/a?— Englishmen in the Party — The Barge Named the "Lady Alice"- An 
Army of Followers to Carry the Outfit — Journey to the Victoria Nyanza — Specu- 
lation as to the Sources of the Nile — Dangers of Travelling in the Dark Conti- 
nent — Crawling Through Jungles — A Famine-stricken District — Two Young Lions 
for Food — Stanley's Pity for His Famishing Men— Death of a Young English- 
man—Burial Under a Tree — Discovery of the Extreme Soutthern Sources of the 
Nile — Arrival at Vinyata — Strange O.d Magic Doctor — Breaking Out of Hostili- 



X CONTENTS. 

ties— Severe Loss of Men — Treachery of Natives — Arrival of Six Beautiful 
Canoes — Stanley Receives a Royal Invitation — The Creat King Mtesa Welcomes 
the Traveller — Prodigal Display of Hospitality — Great Naval Parade in Honor of 
the Visitor — Uganda, the Country of King Mtesa — Startling Horrors of African 
Life — Severe Punishments Inflicted by the King — Errand Boys in Picturesque 
Dress — The King's Power of Life or Death — A Queen's Narrow Escape — Instru- 
ments of Torture — A Powerful Despot — Review of the Warriors — History of the 
Old King — Strange Tales of the Ancient Times — Marvellous Military Drill — 
Singular Funeral Customs — Description of King Mtesa in Early Life — How the 
King Receives Visitors — Royal Ceremonies — Supersiitious Dread of a Water 
Spirit — Decorations and Mystic Symbols — Worshipping with Fife and Drum — 
The African's Indolent Character— Stanley's Estimate of King Mtesa -A Doubtful 
Eulogy 371 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 

Stanley Off for Victoria Nyanza — A Redoubtable General Who Had to be Put in Irons — 
Stanley Received With August Ceremonies by a King— The Great Mtesa Agrees 
to Join the Expedition — The King's Wonderful Army— Splendid Battalions of 
Warriors — Native Hostilities on Foot — Repulse of Mtesa's Proud Army — Stan- 
ley's Cunning Device to Defeat the Enemy — Construction of a Terrible War- 
boat — Proclamation of Amnesty to Those Who Will Surrender — The Stiatagem 
Successful — A Renowned Arab — Stanley Obtains the Aid of Tipo-tipo — Dreadful 
Accounts of Ferocious Cannibals and Dwarfs With Poisoned Arrows — Tales 
Rivalling the Stories of the "Arabian Nights " — Dwarfs That Scream Like De- 
mons—Clouds of Arrows Filling the Air — Terrible Tales of Huge Pythons — 
Numerous Leopards and Other Wild Beasts — Stories of Gorillas — Stanley's Con- 
tract With Tipo-lipo— Arrival at Nyangwe — Livingstone's Description of Nyang- 
we's Renowned Market — Savage "Dudes" and Hard-working Women — An 
Amusing Scene — New Journeys and Discoveries — Fierce Attack From Hostile 
Natives— Engagement With Fifty-four Gun-boats— War Vessels Repulsed by 
Stanley's Men — Fifty-seven Cataracts in a Distance of Eighteen Hundred Miles — 
Five Months Covering One Hundred and Eighty Miles — Death in the Boiling 
Rapids— Men Hurried to a Yawning Abyss— Miraculous Escape of One of Stan- 
ley's Men — Thrilling Adventure of Zaida — Rescued in the Nick of Time — Brave 
Frank Pocock Drowned— Stanley's Incontrollable Grief^Nearing the Mouth of 
the Congo and the Atlantic Coast— Stanley's Letter Appealing for Help— Quick 
Response of White Men— Stanley's Letter of Grateful Thanks — Final Arrival at 
the Long-sought Coast — Stanley's Fame Fills the World 397 

CHAPTER XIX. 
TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 

Stanley and Emin Pasha — Other Famous African Travellers— Achievements Almost 
Superhuman — Fascination of Tropical Explorations — Sir Samuel and Lady 
Baker — Lady Baker Determined to Ace mpany Her Husband — Discomforts of 
Travelling in Africa — Intense Heat in the Nile Region — Barren Rocks and Sandy 
Wastes— Blue Sky Over a Blighted Land — The Wretclitd Town of Kor(»ko — 



CONTENTS. XI 

Searching for One of the Sources of the Nile— Arrival at Berber— Courtesies of 
an Ex Governor— The Travellers Pitch Their Tents in a Garden — A Charming 
Oasis — Fine Looking Slaves From the White Nile — Slaves Well Cared for by 
Their Master — Description of a Beautiful Slave Girl — Guard of Turkish Soldiers — 
Fine River and Forest Game — Sudden kise of the Nile — A Clew to One Part of 
the Nile Mystery — The Rainy Season Arrives — Interview With a Great Sheik — 
Venerable Arab on a Beautiful Snow-white Dromedary — Perfect Picture of a 
Desert Patriarch — Cordial Welcome to Baker and His Party — A Performance to 
Show the Sheik's Hospitality — Arrival at the Village of Sofi — On the Banks of 
the Atbara — The Travellers Living in Huts — A German in the Wilds of Africa — 
Man Killed by a Lion— Baker's Adventure With a River-horse— Savage Old 
Hippopotamus — Famous Arab Hunters — Wonderful Weapons — Story of the Old 
Arab and His Trap for the Hippopotamus — Capture of an Enormous Beast — 
Aggageers Hunting the Elephant — Thrilling Adventure of a Renowned Arab 
Hunter — An Elephant Dashing Upon His Foes Like an Avalanche — Fatal Blow 
of the Sharp Sword — Baker's Heroic Wife — Reason Why the Nile Overflows —An 
Ivory Trader — Baker Arrives at Khartoum — Romatic Beauty Destroyed by the 
Filth of a Miserable Town ,..422 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 

The Immense Region of the Soudan — Remarkable Character of "Chinese" Gor- 
don — A Man Made of Damascus Steel — A Warrior and Not an Explorer — Mr. 
and Mrs. Baker Crossing the Nubian Desert — Hardships of a Long Camel Jour- 
ney — The Romance of a Desert Journey Destroyed — Travelling Through a 
Furnace — A Nubian Thunder Storm — Bakers Description of a Camel Ride — A 
Humorous Experience — "Warranted to Ride Easy" — Extraordinary Freak of 
Nature — Thorns Like Fish-hooks — Camel Plunging Into the Thorn Bushes— An 
African Scorpion — Water Six Inches Deep in the Tents — The Explorers Pressing 
Forward — The Party That Left Khartoum — The Carpenter Johann — Sickness 
and Death of Poor Johann — Celebrated Tribe of Blacks — Very Cheap Style of 
Dress — Traits of the Neuhr Tribe — Ludicrous Attempt to Get Into Shoes — Mode 
of Salutation - Mosquitoes in Africa — Visit from a Chief and His Daughter — 
Leopard Skin and Skull Cap of White Beads — Men Tall and Slender — Puny 
Children— An Indolent and Starving People — Herds of Cattle — Sacred Bull 
With Ornamented Horns — How a Prussian Baron Lost His Life — Termination 
of the Voyage — Appearance of the Country — The Explorers Looked Upon 
With Suspicion— Native Dwellings — The Perfection of Cleanliness — Huts With 
Projecting Roofs and Low Entrances — The Famous Bari Tribe — Warlike and 
Dangerous Savages — Story of an Umbrella — Systematic Extortion — Stories of 
Two Brave Boys , 439 

CHAPTER XXL 
IN A WILD COUNTRY. 

Attempts to Shoot Baker — Desperate Mutiny in Camp — Notable Arrival — Meeting 
Grant and Speke— The Little Black Boy from Khartoum — Fresh Plot Among 
Baker's Men — Disarming the Conspirators — Heroism in the Face of Danger— 



XII CONTENTS. 

Mutinous Turks Driven Over a Precipice — Horrible Fate of Deserters — Exciting 
Elephant Hunt — March Through Beautiful Hunting Grounds — Thrilling Encoun- 
ter — The Huge Beast Turning on His Foes — Cowardly Followers— Elephant 
Nearly Caught — Wild Beasts Screaming Like a Steam Whistle — Tales of Narrow 
Escapes — African and Indian Elephants — Elephants in War — The Explorers at 
Obbo — Crafty Old Chief— Trouble to Get Rain — Spirited Dance of Obbos - 
Trying to Trade Wives — Satanic Escort— Grotesque Parade — Serious Illness of 
Mrs. Baker — Beautiful Landscape — Travelling in Canoes — Storm on the Lake — 
Tropical Hurricane — Dangers of the Lake Tour — The Explorers Advancing 
Under Difficulties — Continued Attacks of Fever — Life Endangered by Travelling 
in the Tropics 456 

CHAPTER XXII. 
THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 

A Wilderness of Vegetation — Hearty Welcome From a Chief and Natives — 'Blind 
Leading the Blind" — Voyage Up the Victoria Nile — Severe Attack of Fever — 
Sufferings of Lady Baker— A Remarkable River — End of Canoe Voyage Begin- 
ning of a Toilsome March— Rumors Concerning a Great Waterfall — Thunder of 
the Cataract — Rocky Cliffs and Precipitous Banks — Magnificent View — Splendid 
Fall of Snow-white Water — Murchison Falls — The Niagara of the Tropics — Hip- 
popotamus Charges the Canoe — Startling Shock — Scrawny Travelling Beasts- 
Curious Refreshments — Arrival at a Chief's Island — Crossing Ravines and Tor- 
rents—Sickness on the March — Taking Shelter in a Wretched Hut — On the Verge 
of Starvation — Baker Arrayed in Highland Costume— Stirring Events — Meeting 
Between a Slave and Her, Former Mistress — Adventurous Journey — Pushing on 
for Shooa — Hunting Game for Dinner — Travellers Hungry as Wolves — Frolic- 
some Reception of the Explorers— March Through the Bari Country — Arrows 
Whizzing Overhead — Savage fatally Wounded — Night in a Hostile Countrj' — 
Lively Skirmish with the Natives —Arrival at Gondokoro — Excitement and 
Hurrahs — Terrible Ravages of the Plague— An Arab Gets His Deserts— Sir 
Samuel and Lady Baker Arrive at Cairo — Baker Receives the Award of the 
Victoria Gold Medal — The Hero Again in Africa 481 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 

The Khedive of Egypt — Baker Made a Pasha — Second Expedition Towards the 
Sources of the Nile— A Scene of Desolation — Conveying Steel Steamers for the 
Albert Lake — The Expedition's Outfit — Musical Boxes and Magic Lanterns — The 
Military Forces — Baker's Very "Irregular Cavalry" — Grotesque Manoeuvres - 
The Camel Transport — Gun Carriages and Heavy Machinery — Steaming up the 
Nile — One of the Bravest Achievements of Modern Times — A Grand River — Im- 
mense Flats and Boundless Marshes — Current Checked by Floating Islands — 
Toilsome Passage — The Expedition Retreats — Pursuing Game — A Beautiful 
Animal^Baker in Camp — The Shillook Tribe— Superior Savages — Crafty Tres- 
passers — Old Chief with Immense Family — A Pompous Ruler — Wholesale Matri 
mony — Brown Men Get Jilted — A Little Black Pet — Natives Up in Arms — A 



CONTENTS. Xlli 

Dangerous Encounter — Attack From the Baris — Dastardly Traitor — The House- 
hold—Black Boys Who Would Not Steal Sugar— Liitle "Cuckoo"— A Remarka- 
ble Rock — An Old Superstition— On the March — Adventure with a Rhi- 
noceros — Horse Attacked — Timely Shot — The Wild Beast Laid Low — Arrival at 
Unyoro — Sanguinary Battle — "Chinese" Gordon at Khartoum— Gordon's Un- 
timely Death 500 

CHAPTER XXIV. ' 
TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 

Speke and Grant on the March— Soldiers and Hottentots — Red Flannel and Wooly 
Heads — Dividing the Duties of the Expedition — Strike for Higher Wages — 
Rogues and Robbers — Excessive Politeness to Women —Polishing the African 
Skin— Natives Who Run and Hide — Black Boys Badly Scared — Speke on a 
Rhinoceros Hunt— Desperate Struggle to Obtain a Prize — Hunter Tossed Sky- 
ward — An Extraordinary Animal — Use of the Rhinoceros Horn — Peculiar Eyes — 
Habits of the Great Beast— A Match for the Swiftest Horse — A Hot Pursuit- 
Singular and Fatal Wound — A Rhinoceros in London — The Wild Beast Tamed — 
Fire-eating Monster — The Explorers Meet a Rogue — Kind Attentions of an Old 
Friend — Singular African Etiquette — How a Wife Welcomes Her Husband Back 
From a Journey— Murdrr and Plunder — Speke Obtains Freedom for a Slave — 
Horrid Cannibals— A Popular African Drink — How " Pomba " is Made — Arrival 
at Mininga — A Leader Who Was Named "Pig" — Obstinacy and Stupidity — 
Chief Who Wanted to See a White Man— Sly Tricks of the " Pig"— A Steady 
Old Traveller — Illness of the Explorer— Reception by a Friendly Chief — Alarm- 
ing News — Persistent Demands for Tribute — Necklaces of Coral Beads — The 
Explorer's Guides Forsake Him — Hurried Tramp of Men — Arrival of Grant's 
Porters 530 

CHAPTER XXV. 
WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 

An African Village — Shelling Corn — Furniture in a Native's Hut— Peculiar Social 
Customs — Evening Dance — A Favorite Game — Weezee Boys and Their Bows and 
Arrows — Singular Mode of Shooting —Affectionate Greetings — Fine Models of the 
Human Form — Treatment of Slaves— A Happy Release — Avaricious Arabs — 
Horrible Punishments Inflicted Upon Offenders — Attacked by Black Robbers — 
Little Rohan, the Sailor — Boy's Bravery — Shooting Thieves — Speke and Grant at 
Karague Combats with Wild Animals— Beautiful Scenery— Interesting Family 
of a King— Royal Fit of Merriment — Famous Fat Wives — Mode of Fattening.' 
Women — Models of Beauty — Amusement in the Palace — A King's Levee — Meas- 
uring a very Fat Lady — Desperate Battle with a Hippopotamus — Mountain Ga- 
zellts — The Wonderful White M m — A King's Astonishment at Gunpowder — 
Women Beating the War Drum — Muical Instruments — Wild Musician — Gro- 
tesque Band of Music -A Merry Christmas— Speke on His Way to Uganda — 
Messengers from King Mtesa — A Remarkably Rich Country — Mountains of the 
Moon — Droll Customs of Savages — Frightening Away the Devil — Interview with 
King Mtesa— A Black Queen— The King Shoots an Adjutant bird— Wild and 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Fantastic Scene — A Famous Colo-iel — Arrival of Grant — The Explorers Pushing 
Forward — Speke Loses One ol His Men — Arrival at the Banks of the Nile — 
Singular Conveyances— Brutal Attack of Natives — Speke and Grant at the End 
of Their Journey — The Explorers Arrive in England — Important Discoveries ot 
Speke and Grant 552 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 

Remarkable Scenery in Central Africa — Masses of Rocky Mountains —Foliage Bright 
with all the Colors of the Rainbow— Rank Growths of Rushes and Grass — Varieties 
of Animal Life — The Guinea fowl— The Sacred Ibis — The Long-legged Stork 
and Heron — The Wonderful Shoebill— Primeval Forests and Runnmg Streams- 
Fine Specimens of Flowers — Perpetual Moisture — The Negro's Taste for 
Honey— The Fish-eagle — Majestic Flight — An Old Bird— The Eagle Contending 
for its Mate— Remarkable Claws— Turtle Doves and Golden Pheasants— Crows 
and Hawks — Fairy Antelopes — Grave -looking Monkeys — Beautiful Valleys and 
Hillsides — The Beautiful in Nature Marred by Human Cruelty — Cities Built by 
Insects— Waves of Rolling Land — Villages of African Tribes— Stanley's Descrip- 
tion of Tanganyika— Remarkable Lake — Lovely Landscape — A Native Bird — 
Famous Ibis — A Feathered Idol — Stanley's Glowing Description of Tropical 
Scenery — Desert of Sahara — Terrific Sand Storms— Whirlwinds of Dust— Fire 
in the Air— Extraordinary Storm Pillars — Remarkable Reptile Tribes — The 
Curious Gekko — Brilliant Insects— The Traveller's Pests — Remarkable Trees 
and Plants— The Wild Ox -The Wild Pig— Ten Kinds of Antelopes— Elegant 
Animals— Swift Punishment— Famous Gorilla — Inveterate Thieves — Quick Re- 
treat — The Orang-outang — Arms Longer Than Legs— Formidable Foe — Pursuit 
of the Orang-outang — Swinging Ea-;ily from Tree to Tree— Expert Climber- 
Hiding Among the Leaves-^The Young Orang — A Motherly Goat— Clever 
Monkey — Saucy Pet— A Little Thief— An Animal Very Human 581 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 

Thrilling Incidents in the Life of Baldwin— A Man of Rare Attainments — Bold 
Hunter — Kaffirs and Hottentots — Terrible Drought — Two Stately Giraffes — A 
Rickety Old Wagon — Trouble With an Ancient Musket — Greedy Kaffir — Hostile 
Natives — Loud Talk and Bluster — The Land for Brilliant Sport— Troop of 
Elephants — The Buffalo and Rhinoceros— Bright and Burning Sun— Story of a 
Little African — Swimming a Turbid River — In Pursuit of a Huge Elephant — 
Crashing Through the Thicket — Hunter Charged by an Elephant — Fat Meat and 
Half-starved Natives — Immense Beasts Disappear Like Magic — Canoes Upset 
and their Crews Drowned— Race of Savages Always at War — Covetous Chief— 
An Open Air Dinner — Kaffir Girls for Waiters — Description of Kaffir Beauties — 
Roasted Giraffe for Dinner— An Unscrupulous Rascal — Trying to Get the Best ot 
the Bargain — In Pursuit of Elands— Ridmg at a Slashing Pace— Floundering 
Among Pit-falls— Another Encounter With Elephants — Perilous Situation— In 
Close Contact With an Immense Beast— Shots That Went Home— A Famous 



CONTENTS. XV 

Bird —Pathetic Death of a Dog — Combats With Tigers — Fxciting Events in the 
Jungle — Indiscriminate Combat — Savage Charge by a Buffalo — Caught Among 
Prickly Thorns — Beast that Cannot Be Driven — Chase of the Giraffe— Unique- 
Animal — Eyes of Wonderful Beauty — Elegant Roan Antelope — Crisis of Fate — A 
Herd of Harrisbucks — The Plumed Ostrich — Ingenious Method of Gttting 
Water— Ostrich Chicks— Not Particular as to Food 617 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 

Great Gorilla Hunter — Du Chaillu in the Jungles— First Gorilla Captured by a 
White Man — Formidable Monster — Ghastly Charms— Battle with a Bull — Hunter 
Tossed on Sharp Horns — The Camma Tribe — A very Sick Man — Infernal-looking 
Doctor — Snake Bones and Little Bells — Extraordinary Performance to Find the 
Sorcerer — Huge Fraud — Andersson in Africa — Guides Lose Their Way — Lives of 
the Whole Paity at Stake — A Search for Water in All Directions — Necessity of 
Returning Without Delay — Two Men Exploring the Country for Water Left Be- 
hind — Suffering of Men and Animals from Thirst — Grand and Appalling Confla- 
gration—Magnificent Spectacle — Cattle One Hundred and Fifty Hours Without a 
Single Drop of Water — Troop of Elephants — A Watch by Night — Wild Animals at 
a Water Course— Battle Between a Lion and Lion Hunter — Dogs and Natives — 
Exciting Hunting Scene — One Hundred Natives in the Field— Cameron in the 
Dark Continent — Illustrious Explorer — Expedition from Sea to Sea— Impor- 
tant Discoveries — Agreement Between African Explorers— Stanley's Fame As- 
sured 651 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE CELEBRATED EMIN PASHA. 

1 

A Remarkable Man — Last of the Heroes of the Soudan— Birth of Emin Pasha — Early 
Education — Charmed with the Life of an Explorer — Determined to Visit Africa — 
Acquaintance with "Chinese" Gordon — Gordon's High Estimate of Emin — Emin 
Appointed to an Important Position — Governor of the Equatorial Province — Diffi- 
culties of the Situation— Strong Hand and Iron Will Required for the Natives — 
Emin's Very Irregular Troops — Marvellous Success of Emin's Government — A 
Large Deficit Changed to an Immense Profit — Construction of New Roads — Vil- 
lages Rebuilt — Immense Improvements Everywhere — Emin's Devotedness to his 
Great Undertaking — Wonderful Tact and Perseverance — Great Anxiety for Emin — 
Speculations Concerning His Situation — Resolve to Send an Expedition— Stanley 
Called upon for a Great Achievement 676 

CHAPTER XXX. 
EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

Emin's Graphic Story — Sent to Unyoro by " Chinese " Gordon — Emin's Company on 
the March — Drenched with Rain — Ox-hide Clothing — Fine Present— Very Diffi- 



XVI CONTENTS. 

cult Marching — Handsome Young Chief— A Manlike Animal— Ape Nests Among 
the Trees — The African Parrot — Several Species of Baboons — The King Sends 
an Escort — Tooting Horns and Rattling Drums —Arrival at Kabrega's— Cows 
With Neither Horns nor Humps — Country Well Peopled — Tall Grasses and 
Gigantic Reeds — The King's Greetings — Kabrega on a Stool — How the King 
Was Dressed — Kabrega's Fair Complexion — Amused with a Revolver — A Merry 
Monarch — A Savage Who Could Forgive — Funny Little Hump-backs — Numer- 
ous Albinos — Interesting Custom— Embassy to Gen. Gordon — A Worthless 
Governor — Exciting Melee 685 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 

Emin's Scholarly Attainments — A Shrewd Observer — The Wanyoro — Cleanly Hab- 
its — Sweet Perfumes — Triangular Finger-Nails — Wanyoro Cookery — Eating 
Earth — How Great Chiefs Eat — How Women Eat — What Africans Drink — Proud 
Wives of Chiefs — Use of Tobacco — Treating Friends With Coffee-berries — Wild 
Sports in Unyoro — A Famous Witch — Scene at a Fire — How Love Matches Are 
Made— Paying for a Wife by Installments — How Cririle is Punished — The Coun- 
try's Government — The King's Cattle — King Kabrega Claims All the Young 
Ladies — Legend of the Creation — Belief in Charms— Curious Superstitions — Le- 
gend of the Elephant — Legend of the Chimpanzee .' 704 



• CHAPTER XXXII. 
EMIN PASHA'S PERILOUS SITUATION. 

The War of the False Prophet Goes on — Emin's Concern for Amadi — Sends Mes- 
sengers to Obtain News — Stirring Reports From the Scene of Conflict — Heroic 
Spirit of Some of Emin's Soldiers — Contemptible Treachery of a Part of Emin's 
• Forces — Presumptuous Letter From the Commander-in Chief of the Mahdist's 
Army — Intelligence of Gordon's Death — Exultation Among Moslem Arabs Over 
the Death of Gordon — Emin Summons His Officers to a Council of War — Reso- 
lution Passed by the Council — General Recommendation of a Retreat South- 
ward -Emin's Personal Supervision of the Southward March — Manner in Which 
Emin Received the Summons to Surrender— The Equatorial Provinces in a 
Perilous Situation— Emin's Letter to Dr. Felkin — News From England of a Pro- 
posed Expedition for Emin's Relief— Thanks for Heartfelt Sympathy — Emin's 
Expressed Resolve to Remain With His People— Gordon's Self-sacrificing Work 
Must be Carried on— Emin's Statement of What He Wants From England — 
Disreputable Arabs — Emin Anxiously Awaiting the Outcome of Present 
Troubles — Destructive Fire and the Loss of the Station at Wadelai — The Station 
Re-built— Emin's Estimate of His Own Supporters— Emphatic Determination 
Not to Evacuate the Territory 715 



CONTENTS. s^vll 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 

Stanley Again in Africa— Fears for the Safety of Emin Pasha — King of the Belgians 
Resolves to Send an Expedition — Deciding upon a Route- Stanley States the 

■ Character of the Expedition — A Country That Does Not Pay — Bees' Wax and 
India Rubber— Cutting off the Nile— A Country That Might Be Starved— Stanley 
States That His Mission is Pacific — Stanley's Old Friend Tipo-tipo — Six Hundred 
Men Enlisted— Meeting the Expenses of the Journey — The Expediton Leaves 
Zanzibar for the Mouth of the Congo — Overland Journey of Nearly Seventeen 
Hundred Miles — Appalling Difficulties — Transporting Munitions and Stores — 
Difficulty to Obtain Porters — Mysteries of the "White Pasha" — Gigantic False- 
hood Told Concerning Emin— Gloomy Predictions— Fears for the Safety of 
Stanley— The Whole Expedition Thought to Have Been Massacred — Blunders 
Committed in the Soudan and East Africa — Hostile Relations Between the Na- 
tive Tribes — Dangers Always Threatening a Passing Caravan — Marauders Eager 
• for Plunder — Stanley's Selection of the Congo Rout Criticized 723 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 

The Great Explorer Heard From— News of Having Reached Emin Pasha — Interest- 
ing Letter from Mr. Stanley — Story of the Expedition's Movements — Awaiting 
the Arrival of a Steamer — Tipo tipo Again on the Scene— Lively Skirmish with 
the Natives— Setting Fire to Villages — Making an Attack Under Cover of Smoke — 
Proceeding Along the Left Bank of the Aruwimi — Again in the Wilderness — Death 
from Poisoned Arrows— Making Steady Progress — Arrival at the Camp— Attempt 
to Ruin the Expedition — What Stanley Calls an "Awful Month" — Brighter Pros- 
pects Ahead — Extreme Suffering from Hunger — Great Loss in Men — A Halt of 
Thirteen Days — View of the Land of Promise — Light After Continuous Gloom of 
One Hundred and Sixty Days— A Battle Imminent — Natives Prepare for War- 
fare — Terrible War-cries Ring from Hill to Hill— Treating with the Natives- 
Attempt to Drive Back the Expedition — Sharp-shooters Rout the Natives — The 
March Resumed — Perilous Descent— Stanley Builds a Fort— Laying Up Stores — 
Illness of Stanley — Deaths and Desertions— Stanley Starts Again -Obtaining Sup- 
plies — News Again of the "White Man." 732 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA. 

Wonderful Tales by Natives — "Ships as Large as Islands, Filled with Men "—Note 
from Emin Pasha — Strip of American Oil-cloth — Boat Dispatched to Nyanza— 
Hospitable Reception by the Egyptian Garrison— Joyful Meeting — Emin and 



xviil CONTENTS. 

Stanley Together — Only Sixteen Men Left Out of Fifty six— Favorable Accounts 
of the Fort — Getting Rid of Encumbrances — Moving Foward — Securing Am- 
ple Supplies — Immense Flotilla of Canoes — Hair-breadth Escapes and Tragic 
Scenes — Reorganizing the Expedition — St mley Reported Dead — Immense Loss 
of Men — Good Accounts of the Survivors — Vast Forests — Sublime Scenery — 
High Table-lands — Lake Nyanza— Conversation with Emin Pasha— What Shall 
be Done? — Planning to Remove — Disposing of Women and Children — Last 
Words— Stanley Sends a Message to the Troops — Emin Pasha to Visit the Fort — 
Stanley Makes a Short Cut— Success Thus Far of the Expedition 742 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
STANLEY IN THE BOUNDLESS FOREST. 

The Route Taken by Stanley— A March Beset by Fatal Perils— Death Thins the 
Ranks — Bushes and Creepers— Most Extensive Forest Region in Africa — One 
Hundred and Sixty Days in the Dense Woods — Loyal Blacks — Insects and 
Monkeys— Dwarfs and Poisoned Arrows — Gloom by Day and Frightful Darkness 
by Night— Sources of Moisture— W^ild and Savage Aborigines — Short-lived 
Vision of Beauty — Light at Last— The Expedition in Raptures at the Sight of 
Green Fields — Scene on a Derby Day— Wild With Delight — A Leprous Out- 
cast — " Beauty and the Beast " — News of a Powerful Tribe — Frantic Multitude — 
Fowls Plucked and Roasted- Skeletons Getting Fat — Back and Forth on the 
Banks of the Aruwimi — Emin Pasha — "See, Sir, What a Big Mountain" — Lake 
Albert Nyanza — Important Discoveries 752 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
. • HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 

The Explorer Again Lost — Long and Painful Suspense — Welcome Despatch from 
Zanzibar — Wonderful March — Conspicuous Bravery — Stanley's Thrilling Story — 
Murder of Major Barttelott — Mission Church — "Outskirts of Blessed Civiliza- 
tion" — Vivid Word Painting —Stanley's Letter to a Friend — Movements of Jeph- 
son — Stanley's History of His Journey — Letter to the Chairman of the Emin Re- 
lief Fund — Rear Column in a Deplorable State-Land March Begun — Gathering 
Stores for the March — Small-pox— Terrible Mortality — Bridging a River — Crafty 
and Hostile Dwarfs — Tracks of Elephants — Fighting Starvation — Stanley Returns 
to Find the Missing Men — Making Friends with the Natives — Startling Letter 
from Jephson — Emin a Prisoner — The Insurgents Reach Lado— Emin's Followers 
Like Rats in a Trap — Stanley's Arrival Anxiously Awaited — Emin Clings to His 
Province — Stanley's Letter to Jephson — Absurd Indecision— Letter from Emin — 
Desperate Situation — Emin's Noble Traits— Stanley's Letter to Marston— Recital 
of Thrilling Events 761 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 

Stanley's Continued History of His March — Emin's Arrival at Stanley's Camp — 
Arranging for the Journey — Arabs who Always Agree with You — That Stolen 



CONTENTS. XIX 

Rifle— Selim Bey Deposed — The Surgeon's Devotion — A Doctor who Loved 
His Cases — The Refugees and their Luggage — Fanstaff"'s Buck Basket — Piles of 
Rubbish — Porters with Ugly Temper — Emin's Inquiry — Government Envoy- 
Stanley's Reply to Emin — Hankering for Egypt — Stanley Reviews the Situa- 
tion — The Pasha's Danger — Rebels Everywhere —Stirrmg up Emin— Rebels 
Threaten to Rob Stanley — Threats of Sending Stanley's Expedition into the 
Wilderness to Perish — Selim Bey's Delay — Rebels Possessed of Ammunition — 
When Shall the March Commence? — Reply of the Officers — Questions of Honor 
and Duty — Europeans Unwillingto Quit Africa — A Contract Broken — Emin Acquit- 
ted of All Dishonor— Emin's Unwavering Faith — Few Willing to Follow Emin to 
Egypt^-Tales of Disorder and Distress — Compulsory Muster and Start — All 
Except Two Wish to Goto Zanzibar — Stanley Threatens the Treacherous Arabs — 
Expedition Starts for Home — Fifteen Hundred in the Party — Illness of Stan- 
ley — Conspiracies — Ringleader of Sedition Executed— A Packet of Letters — Inso- 
lent Message from Selim Bey — The Perilous March — A Great Snowy Range — 
Climbing the Mountains — Sufferings on the Journey 7S1 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 

The World Hears the News — Stanley and Emin Pasha Arrive at Mpwapwa — Newspa- 
pers Aglow With the Intelligence — Intense Interest of All Civilized People — Unfor- 
tunate Report of Emin's Death — General Rejoicings on Account of Emin's Safety — 
The New York Herald Resolves to Send a Relief Expedition — Captain Wissmann's 
Despatch From Zanzibar — The German Government Rendering Every Possible 
Assistance — Stanley's Thrilling Narrative — Incidents of the Homev/ard March — 
The Explorer in Perfect Health — Stanley's Summons to Conduct the Expedi- 
tion — "Twenty Various Little Commissions "^A Hero Who Shirks No Task — 
Great Geographical Discoveries — The Aruwimi Explored from its Source to Its 
Bourne — The Immense Congo Forest — "Cloud King" Wrapped in Eternal 
Snow — Connection Between Two Great Lakes — Traversing Ranges of Moun- 
tains—Under the Burning Equator — Fed on Blackberries — Six Thousand Square 
Miles of Water Added to Victoria Nyanza — Animals, Birds, and Plants — New 
Stores of Knoweledge— The Hand of a Divinity — Events as They Occurred — Suf- 
ferings and Losses — " Horrible Forms of Men Smitten with Disease " — Sickening 
Sights — Death of a White Man— Emin Pasha and Jephson Threatened with in- 
stant Death— Prisoners in the Hands of the Mahdists — ^Jephson's Letters — Stan- 
ley's Faith in the Purity of His Own Motives — Guided By a Higher Power — Ter- 
rible Hardships of the March — "Agonies of Fierce Fevers" — What Vulgar People 
Call Luck— Strange Things in Heaven and Earth — A Summary of Bravery — Un- 
complaining Heroism of Dark Explorers — Incentives to Duty— Stanley's Letter 
to the British Consul at Zanzibar — Number of Persons Brought Out of Central 
Africa — Fifty-nine Infant Travellers — Eighteen of the Pasha's People Lost — Bur- 
dens Increasing with Each Advance — Carrying the Helpless One Thousand Miles — 
Four Days' Fighting — Prejudice Agamstthe Pasha Among the Natives — Talking 
of No Use — Valuable Discovery — Large Extension of a Lake — Mountainous 
Islands — Completeness of Stanley's Story — Review of the Expedition— Magnifi- 
cent Results — Immortal Fame of the Great Hero 797 



XXll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Weapons Used in Warfare 

Crocodiles in a Tropical Marsh . . 

Natives Dragging an Immense Crocodile Ashore . 

White-faced Wild Boar of Central Africa 

Map of the Great Lake District .... 

Stanley Finds Livingstone ..... 

Stanley and Livingstone Escaping from Savages 

African Houses with Thatched Roofs . 

Conveying Livingstone's Body to the Coast . 

The Giraffe or Camtlopard . . . 

Young "Fetish" Man of the Congo District 

King William of the Gaboon and His Principal Wife 

Guereza with Beautiful Flying Mantle . 

Immense War-Boat of Cannibals Advancing to Battle 

Monument and Skulls Erected to a Chief 

African Warrior Rushing to Battle 

King Mtesa and His Officers of State 

Peculiar Mode of Execution 

One of Mtesa's Wives Rescued from Death 

Wild Freaks of a Female Sorcerer 

Human Sacrifices in Honor of a Visit to King Mtesa 

Wild War-Dance of Savage Braves 

Beautiful African Leopard and Young . 

Battle between Stanley's Expedition and Fifty-four Canoes 

Heroic Rescue of Zaidi ■ . 

A Berber Family Crossing a Ford 

The Beautiful Slave Girl at Berber 

Exciting Combat with a Hippopotamus in the Atbara 

The Old Arab Attacking the Hippopotamus . 

An Elephant's Furious Charge upon His Foes 

Sir Samuel and Lady Baker Crossing the Desert 

Wild Arab's Swift Ride 

Venomous Scorpion .... 

Natives of the Nile Region „ 

Natives of Africa Capturing an Elephant 

Bull Elephant Shaking a Tree for Fruit . 

Elephants in Military Service 

Curious Obbo War-Dance 

Kamiasi's People Welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Baker 

Tne Start from M'rooli for the Lake with Kamrasi's Satanic Escort 

Herd of Hippopotami in the Albert Nyanza Lake 

Murchison Falls — The Niagara of Africa 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XXIU 



Ferocious Attack of a Hippopotamus 

Grand Dance of Welcome to Mr and Mrs. Baker 

Lively Skirmish with the Natives . 

Camels Transporting Steamers Across the Desert 

Antelopes Guarded by a Sentry 

Shillook Warriors with Dress and Weapons 

" The Black Soldiers Immediately Attacked the Crocodile " 

Curious Table-Rock in the Nile Valley . 

" Crack ! went a Bullet against His Hide " . 

Wazaramo Village ..... 

Greedy Natives Fighting over a Captured Hippopotamus 
" The Animal Sent Him into, the Air " . 
Desperate Race ...... 

Put to Flight by a Sudden Charge . 
Grand Torchlight Dance of the Weezee 
Dancing Party to Welcome a Returning Husband 
Peculiar African Bullock .... 

Social Amusements among the Weezees 

Young Weezee Shooting Pigeons 

An Ivory Merchant's Camp .... 

Combat with an Enraged Lioness . 

A Happy Native . . . . . 

Landing an Enormous Hippopotamus . 
Infuriated Rhinoceros Routing His Foes 
Peculiar Musical Instruments. 
Curious Adjutant-Bird . . • • " 

Grant's Rapid Journey from Karagwe . 
Elephants Escaping from Tneir Pursuers 
Strange African Shoebill .... 

Fish-Eagles Contending for a Prize 
Life and Metamorphosis of the Dragon-fly 
Desperate Batde with the King of the Forest . 
Beautiful Pheasant ..... 

Columns of Desert Sand Formed by a Cyclone 

African Gekko or Wall-lizard 

Gigantic Beetle . . . ... 

Native Captured by a Ferocious Leopard 

The World-renowned Gorilla 

Orang-outang Captured . ... 

Apes among the Trees ..... 

Herd of African Elephants .... 

Chased by an Enraged Elephant . 



PAGE 
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492 

495 

505 

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518 

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546 
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555 
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575 
578 

583 
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XXIV 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Dining with a Kaffir Chief 

Headlong Chase of Three Elands . 

At Close Quarters .... 

A Perilous Position 

Terrible Combat with Tigers 

Narrow Escape from a Wild Buffalo 

A Race for Life .... 

Giraffes Fleeing from a Hunter 

Herd of Harrisbucks in Full Flight 

Curious Mode of Capturing Ostriches 

Exciting Chase of a Wild Ostrich 

South American Ostrich and Young 

Terrible Combat with a Gorrilla . 

"It Tossed Him High into the Air Once 

O.jganga Doctor Discovering a Witch 

A Struggle for Life 

Leopard and Ant-Bear in Mortal Combat 

Sotfth African Kangaroos 

Warrior with Battle-axe 

Carved Ivory Trumpets 

Chief with Remarkable Goatee 

Camel of Arabia .... 

Traveller and Camel Crossing the Dessert 

Hunting the Wild Boar in Africa . 

Desperate Combat with'%Lion 

Kaffirs' Lively War-Dance 

Emin Pasha (Dr Schnitzer) . 

Some of Emin Pasha's Irregulars . 

African King and His Great Chiefs Returnin 

In the Jaws of Death 

Chirping Cricket 

Arrival at Kabrega's 

Map of Equatorial Africa 

Expedition Crossing a Temporary Bridge 

Henry M. Stanley and His Automatic Machine 

Abyssinian Foot Soldier 

Stanley Threatens Death if the Box is Dropped 

Animals of the Tropics 

Skirmish Drill of Kaffir Warriors 

Extraordinary Forest Growths in Africa 

Monkey Town in Central Africa . 



Twice, Thrice 



a Visit 



Gun 




ANIMALS, REPTILES AND FISH OF THE TROPI*^.. 



Wonders t»h^. Tropics 



OR 



EXPLORATIONS AND ADVENTURES 

OF 

HKNRY ISA, STANLKY. 

CHAPTER I. 
STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 

A Remarkable Man — Solving the Mysteries of the Dark Continent— Stanley's Birth in 
Wales — Sent in Early Life to the Almshouse at St. Asaph — A Teacher in Flint- 
shire—Struggling to Obtain Means for an Education — The Restless Spirit Show- 
ing itself— Seeking the New World — A Cabin Boy, Bound from Liverpool to New 
Orleans — The Welsh Boy Adopted by Stanley of New Orleans — Honesty and 
Capacity of the Boy— Death of Stanley's Benefactor — No Property Falls to the 
Adopted Son — Stanley in California — A Free and Happy Life Among Bold Ad- 
venturers — The School of Human Nature — Power of Endurance and Readiness 
for Daring Enterprises— Carrying the Knapsack and Rifle — A Soldier in the 
Confederate Army — Captured by Union Forces — Becomes Connected with the 
New York Herald— Off for the Battle-field in Turkey— Robbed by Brigands- 
Stanley Returns to England — The Children's Dinner at the Poorhouse — Sent 
by James Gordon Bennett with the British Abyssinian Expedition — Stanley's 
Messages First to Reach London — Livingstone Lost in Africa — ft.emarkable 
Midnight Interview with Mr. Bennett — "Find Livingstone at any Cost." 

'HE world is filled with the fame of Henry M. Stanley. What Cicero 
was in eloquence, what Newton was in science, what Gladstone is 
in statesmanship, this Stanley is in exploration and adventure. 
For bold enterprise, for daring achievement, for unconquerable 
perseverance, for singular command of men, for intrepid bravery in the 
face of danger, he stands unrivalled among the heroes of modern times ; 
and this is saying much considering that modern history boasts of such 
names as Livingstone, Baker, Emin Bey, Cameron and Speke in Tropical 
discoveries, and Franklin, Kane and Greeley in Arctic voyages and perils. 

2 



18 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

To this man the eyes of the world are drawn ; the Dark Continent has 
yielded to him its mysteries, and when it shall be changed by the on- 
ward march of civilization, the eulogies pronounced upon him will be 
even more eloquent, and a large share of the credit of redeeming the 
uncivilized wastes of Africa will be freely accorded to him. 

Like many men who have distinguished themselves in every' field of 
enterprise and discovery, Stanley came from very humble life, and by 
force of native genius, resolute will and self-sacrificing devotion to his 
work, has gained the foremost rank among the noble band of explorers 
whose thrilling achievements have an interest surpassing that of the most 
marvelous tales of fiction. 

Henry M. Stanley, although an American by residence and education, 
was born at Denbigh, in Wales, in 1840. The names of his parents were 
Rowland. They belonged to the very poor, yet, like many of the peas- 
antry in old countries, they possessed some sterling qualities of mind 
and heart and character. These have been reproduced in their son. who 
has risen far above the surroundings of his childhood, and has become 
celebrated by achievements which never could have been predicted from 
the circumstances of his early life. As it was not possible for him to be 
cared for and supported at home, at the early age of three years he was 
placed in the almshouse at St. Asaph. Here it was expected he would 
receive the care and training, both meagre indeed, which such an institu- 
tion was able to furnish. 

Seeking the New World. 

Stanley remained at the almshouse until he was thirteen years old. It 
seems probable that there is just here a space of several years which is 
not accounted for, since the next we hear of him he was a teacher at 
Mold, in Flintshire, endeavoring by this occupation to provide himself 
with the means of taking a thorough course of stud)'' and completing 
his educatfon. It appears, however, that he remained at Mold only one 
year. By this time the restless spirit of the youth had begun to show 
itself and he gave signs that his life would be one of adventure. 
Having shipped at Liverpool as a cabin-boy on a vessel that was bound 
for New Orleans, he thought he would try the New World and learn 
what fortune might await him there. His youthful mind had been awak- 
ened by glowing accounts of the open fields on this side of the Atlantic, 
and the larger opportunities which awaited industrious and enterprising 
young men. 

Having arrived at New Orleans, he soon obtained employment with a 
merchant named Stanley. This man was attracted by the frank, open- 



STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 



19 



■hearted manner of the boy, and not only received him into his family, 
ebut soon adopted him as his own. His friend and benefactor soon learned 
■that his confidence had not been misplaced; that the impulsive Welsh 




HENRY M. STANLEY, THE WORLD S GREATEST EXPLORER. 

^boy was capable of great things; that he was honest and competent; and 
although at that time no prediction could have been made of the wonder- 
ful career which lay before him, yet, even then, it could safely have been 



20 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

said that in some capacity or other he was hkely to become distinguished! 
above ordinary men. k- 

Stanley's benefactor died intestate, or at least none of his property fell 
to his adopted son. By the sudden bereavement which had overtakem 
him, he was left alone in the world and brought face to face with the 
startling fact that he was to be the architect of his own fortune; that he. 
was to find his surest helper in himself; that he could accomplish in life 
just what his own capacity and push and genius would enable him to 
bring to pass. In his case, as in that of others, it is interesting to trace 
the chain of circumstances which led him on to the great undertakings 
which have since startled the world. 

Stanley in California. 

He was seized with a strong desire to visit the Pacific coast. It is 
not worth while here to recount the adventures and hardships which he 
underwent in carrying out his cherished wish to acquaint himself with 
the western part of our country ; the old saying that " where there is a 
•will there is a way," was fully illustrated in this instance. For a time he 
roamed over different parts of California; gazed upon the romantic 
scenes which that country affords ; made the acquaintance of miners as 
they sat around their camp-fires ; listened to the tales of their exploits ;: 
wondered at the magnificent products of nature, the lofty trees of the 
Sierras and the sublime scenery of the Yosemite Valley, and became 
familiar with the character of the bold men who were attracted to this 
region by the fascinating*tales which had been related of the discovery 
of gold. 

During this time he was not only familiarizing himself with the natural 
scenes which had for him a strong fascination, but he was studying 
human nature, learning the ways of men, and, by his genial qualities and 
ready adaptation to circumstances, making friends wherever he went. 
Scarcely any school could .have been better for him at this time. The 
hardy life that he led developed his physical strength and made him a 
man of nerve and iron. His power of endurance already showed itself. 
Few could travel farther or endure more fatigue than he. If any little 
enterprise was planned which required a brave spirit, Stanley was the 
young man who was found equal to the occasion. He was a brave, 
strong character ; just the one to cross seas, climb mountains, wade 
rivers, endure hardships, explore continents. 

Carrying- the Knapsack and Rifle. 

Returning from California, it was but natural that, as he had previously 
resided in the South, he should identify himself with the Confederate 



STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 2l 

Army. To one like him there was something captivating about the Hfe 
of a soldier ; he was not in the habit of turning back from the face of 
danger. His life hitherto had prepared him for just those exploits which 
are connected with bold military achievements. And although his con- 
nection with the Confederate Army was brief, it was evident that he had 
the material in him for a good soldier ; in fact, it was while carrying out 
-one of his adventurous projects that he was captured by the Union 
troops and was made prisoner of war. 

He was confined on board the iron-clad Ticonderoga, and here again 
his manly bearing and frank, genial manner won him friends. The com- 
mander of the vessel was willing to release him on condition that he 
should join the United States Navy, This he consented to do, although 
there was not much about the life of a sailor that attracted him. By this 
voluntary act he separated himself from the Confederate Army, and be- 
came an ally of the Federal forces. He remained, doing such service as 
was required of him, until the close of the war. Suddenly his occupa- 
tion was gone, and again he seemed to be thrown upon the world. This 
fact had no discouragements for him ; he took it as a matter of coursfe. 
It was not in the nature of things that so bright and spirited a young 
man should long remain idle. Having had a taste of the excitement of 
military campaigns, he conceived the bold project of crossing the Atlan- 
tic, and, if opportunity offered, continuing his military career. 
Oflf to tlie Battle-field. 

There was trouble in Turkey at this time on account of the uprising 
of the Cretans, who, having borne their oppression until endurance 
-ceased to be a virtue, resolved to throw off the yoke under wljiich they 
had suffered. It was but natural that Stanley should feel sympathy for 
any tribe or nation struggling for independence, and at once he resolved 
to ally himself with the Cretans and take again the chances of war. 

At this time he formed a connection which has influenced his career 
■ever since, and which was the most important that he ever entered into. 
As he was going East, and would be an eye-witness of the stirring scenes 
transpiring in the Orient, he secured the position of correspondent for 
the New York Herald, and immediately, in company with two Ameri- 
cans, set sail for the Island of Crete. The old saying that " distance 
lends enchantment to the view" was fully illustrated in his case, for after 
h& had arrived upon the ground and had become acquainted with the 
movement that was in progress for securing the independence of Crete, 
he became thoroughly disgusted with the leaders of the rebellion, and 
entirely changed his opinion as to the merits of the case. He recalled 



22 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

at once his resolve and determined that he would not identify himself with. 
the malcontents whose cause, after he had investigated it, did not appeal 
to his sympathies. 

Again he was a " free lance" and was at liberty to undertake any labor 
or occupation that presented itself Fortunately he had received from 
New York full permission to go wherever he pleased. He could travel 
in any direction, gain a knowledge of what was transpiring in other 
countries, describe the active scenes that were taking place, and send 
his letters to the journal which was now employing him, with the certainty 
that they would be read with interest. Americans are quick in obtaining 
information from other parts of the world, and their eagerness for it is 
exhibited by the fact that so many of our enterprising journals have 
their correspondents in other countries; The education of our people 
peculiarly fits them for an active interest in whatever of importance is 
going on throughout the world, 

Rol>l>fid by Brig-ands. 

Stanley and his friends soon met with an adventure which shows the 
dangers through which they passed and the kind of people they encoun- 
tered. A party of Turkish brigands made an attack upon them and robbed 
them of all their money and extra clothing. This is not an unusual 
occurrence in many parts of the East, where travellers run continuous 
risks and are constantly exposed to the marauding disposition of reckless 
robbers and brigands. At this time Mr. Morris was oiir United States 
Minister at Constantinople, and the case was presented to him ; he im- 
mediately interested himself in behalf of Stanley and his friends and 
brought the matter to the attention of the Turkish officials. Mr. Morris 
was extremely helpful to his fellow Americans, and having loaned them 
whatever was needful, they continued their wanderings. It will be under- 
stood that during this time letters were forwarded to the New York 
Herald, containing graphic descriptions of eastern life and manners. 
Having accomplished what he desired in this direction, Stanley set his face 
toward England and once again arrived in the land of his birth, where 
the scenes of his early boyhood were laid. 

It is one of the characteristics of a noble nature that it does not forget 
its early struggles and experiences. The remembrance of poverty has no 
pain for the man who has risen above it and made himself the master of 
circumstances. It is a tribute to Mr. Stanley's worth that he did not for- 
get the old almshouse, where his early days were spent. One of the first 
things he did after arriving in England was to visit this very place, there 
recalling scenes through which he had passed years before. 




THE CELEBRATED EXPLORERS OF THE WORLD. 



(23) 



24 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

All accounts agree that this visit was very interesting ; it was so to 
the one who was making it and also to those who were receiving it. The 
children whom Stanley knew as inmates of this place had grown up and 
most of them had gone out into the world, but " the poor ye have always 
with you," and there were other little ones, with wan faces, whose sad 
life appealed to the heart of the great traveller. 

Stanley resolved to give these little people a right good dinner, and we 
may be sure the intention was received with as much enthusiasm on the 
part of those who were to partake of the dinner as it was formed on the 
the part of the benefactor. 

The Cliildren's Dinner at tlie Poorhouse. 

On this occasion Stanley appeared in his true light, the nature of the 
man showing itself That nature is one of essential kindness, as has 
been shown through all his explorations, becoming severe and haughty 
only for effect and when such, exhibition of sternness is absolutely 
required. Of course the little people at the poorhouse of St. Asaph 
were delighted ; their efficiency in disposing of that dinner was both 
conspicuous and admirable, and after they had been fed and filled, there 
was another treat in store for them. They were to have a talk from the 
one who had made them so happy, and were to hear a brief account of 
some of his travels and wanderings. Stanley addressed them in plain, 
simple, child's language, showing at once his adaptation to all classes and 
conditions of people. The little folks were delighted to hear his stories ; 
more than this, they received from him words of instruction and encour- 
agement, which, if remembered and heeded, must have made them by 
this time strong men and women. 

We next find Stanley back again in the United States. This was in 
the year 1867 ; he was then but little more than twenty-five years of age, 
but he had passed through more than most men do in a long lifetime ; 
had already seen more of the world than many well-known travellers ; 
had been in more dangers than many who have written strange tales of 
their adventures ; and had obtained a general knowledge of the world 
at large, which is some considerable part of the capital of every well- 
furnished man. James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the New York 
Herald, gave him a hearty reception, and with his shrewd eye saw at 
once the prize he had obtained and the kind of man with whom he had 
to deal. 

About this time the King of Abyssinia, who was one of the subjects 
of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, became very restless, thought he was 
entitled to the management of his own affairs, and created such a dis- 



STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 25 

turbance and mutiny against the formidable powers of Britain that an 
■expedition was sent out to straighten his tangled affairs and bring him 
into becoming submission. A spirit of adventure always gathers about 
such an expedition as this. Not only among the regular forces is there 
sometimes an eagerness for the new country and the excitement of the 
■campaign, but there are always followers who have business of one kind 
or another, and who are captivated with the opportunities afforded to 
gratify their roving dispositions. The war correspondent may not always 
be of this description, but he must be a man of peculiar characteristics. 
Graphic Description of Abyssinian Warfare. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that as Abyssinia was the central point 
•of interest at this time, Stanley received permission to accompany the 
English forces and give detailed accounts of their operations. His letters 
attracted wide attention and were read with eager interest. While not 
the letters of a highly educated man, they were the productions of one 
ivho was peculiarly fitted for his work, and who could seize upon just 
those points which were of interest to the general public, and who could 
•express them in language at once graphic and plain, and could thus fas- 
cinate a wide circle of readers. 

Stanley was not disheartened by any difficulties; in short, he was 
rather looking for some opportunity to perform achievements such as 
other men would not be likely to undertake, and such as would give him 
reputation and renown. When the last battle was fought in this Abys- 
sinian campaign, official dispatches, of course, were sent to London. 
Stanley's messages outstripped all official dispatches and brought the first 
news of the victory to the ears of the British people. When inquiries 
were made in London as to the progress of the battle, they were answered 
by the government officials with the statement that it was not yet over. 
Suddenly Stanley's dispatches arrived, with the statement that the battle 
was over, and at a later period this announcement was officially confirmed. 

This of itself was enough to give Stanley fame as a newspaper corre- 
spondent. It was not a little humiliating to those ponderous official 
T)odies, which move slowly, to learn that a live Yankee had outstripped 
them and got ahead of all their calculations. Not only was he expert in 
getting the news ahead, but his description of this campaign is universally 
■considered as the very best and most accurate that has ever been written. 

"Visit to Spain. 

The next year, 1868, found Stanley again in the United States, not 
long to remain, however. A civil war was raging at this time in Spain. 
Very soon we find Stanley again in Europe, actually taking his position 



26 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

upon the battle-fields to be a spectator of the conflicts, then relating withi 
minuteness what had taken place, and giving a graphic description of the 
scenes which he_ had witnessed. His letters at this time gave a very- 
accurate idea of Spanish affairs. He not only saw the events, but he saw 
the forces which had produced them. For a long time there had been 
political strife in Spain; the position of the contending parties, the ideas 
that were clamoring for the ascendant, all this was given as with a photo- 
graphic lens by the brilliant correspondent, and was made known to the 
world at large. The same promptness and energy which had previously 
distinguished him came out vividly in his life in Spain. Just here we 
have one of the most striking chapters in the career of the great 

explorer. 

"What Has Become of Living-stone?" 

It must be evident by this time to the reader that Stanley was at home 
everywhere. He did not stop to consider climate, country, language or 
hardships when he was to undertake one of his daring enterprises. His 
first plan had been to remain in Spain for a long period of time, content- 
ing himself to sojourn in that land which, for Americans, has compara- 
tively few attractions. This plan, however, was suddenly abandoned. 
There was another and more famous field for his spirit of adventure. 
David Livingstone was in Africa. This man, whose name has gone into 
all the earth, was the marvel of his time, possessing, and in an equally 
eminent degree, many of those characteristics which belong to the hero 
whose early life we are relating. It was a bold conception on the part 
of Livingstone to enter the wilds of the Dark Continent, explore the 
mysteries that had puzzled the world for ages, learn the character of the 
African tribes, obtain a knowledge of the geography of that vast continent, 
and thereby prepare the way for commerce and for those missionaiy 
labors which were to bring civilization to the land that had long been 
lying in darkness. 

Livingstone had long been absent and the curiosity which was awak- 
ened concerning his fate amounted even to anxiety. He had many per- 
sonal friends in England and Scotland who had taken great interest in 
his travels, and who were eager now to obtain some information con- 
cerning him. The probabilities of his fate were freely discussed in news- 
papers and journals, and among many the opinion prevailed that the 
great discoverer would never return to his native land alive. The ques- 
tion, " What has become of Livingstone ?" was agitating both hemis- 
pheres ; a singular instance of the interest which, by forces of circum- 
stances, will sometimes gather around a single great character. 




(27) 



28 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

James Gordon Bennett was just the one to solve the all-perplexing 
question. Was Livingstone alive ? If alive, in what part of Africa was 
he located ? Or was he dead ? Could any intelligence of him be 
obtained ? Where was the bold spirit who would venture out into that 
wild and threatening region and answer the questions which were so 
freely raised concerning this one man ? It was believed that if the great 
explorer was alive, his trail could be followed, and, although it would 
cost an almost superhuman effort, he could be found. To find him 
would be sufficient glory for any one man, and the journal that should 
record such an achievement as this would stand in the front rank of the 
great newspapers of America and England. Mr. Bennett resolved to 
make the trial, and, of course, Henry M. Stanley was the one selected 
for this daring expedition. Mr. Bennett was in Paris and suddenly 
summoned Mr. Stanley from Spain. This unexpected recall somewhat 
astonished Stanley, yet there was an intimation in his mind that some 
bold undertaking was planned, and with high hopes he immediately 
made the journey to Paris. He arrived late at night, but would not 
sleep until after an interview with the one who had summoned him. 
For a long time the project was discussed, and before that first interview 
was concluded, it appeared to both to be a practicable scheme to under- 
take the discovery of Livingstone. 

Offers of Help Kejected. 

It came to the ears of the Royal Geographical Society of London that 
an attempt was to be piade to obtain information concerning the lost 
explorer. This Society, which has had a long and honorable career and 
has done much towards opening parts of the world that had hitherto 
been sealed against all the advances of civilization, offered to bear a part 
of the expenses that would be incurred in sending Mr. Stanley into 
the continent of Africa. Mr. Bennett, however, was willing to undertake 
the matter alone, bear all the expenses and keep himself free from any 
dictation on the part of those who would have all sorts of opinions to 
express and plans to propose, and would think that these should be 
regarded because they were bearing a part of the expenses. The decis- 
ion was a wise one, and Stanley was left perfectly free to follow out his 
own ideas, go where he wished, remain as long as he pleased, only agree- 
ing to do his utmost to solve the problem which all the nations of 
Christendom had on hand. 

The account given by Stanley himself of the commission received 
from Mr. Bennett is somewhat amusing. It is as follows : On the 
^sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 



STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 29 

hundred and sixty-nine, I was in Madrid, fresh from the carnage at 
Valencia. At lo a.m. I received a telegram. It read, "Come to Paris 
on important business." The telegram was from Mr. James Gordon^ 
Bennett, Jr., the young manager of the New York Herald. 
Sudden Start for Paris. 

Down came my pictures from the walls of my apartments on the 
second floor ; into my trunks went my books and souvenirs, my clothes 
were hastily collected, some half washed, some from the clothes-line half 
dry, and after a couple of hours hasty hard work my portmanteaus were 
strapped up and labelled " Paris." 

At 3 p. M. I was on my way, and being obliged to stop at Bayonne a 
few hours, did not arrive at Paris until the following night. I went straight 
to the " Grand Hotel," and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett's room. 

" Come in," I heard a voice say. 

Entering, I found Mr. Bennett in bed. 

" Who are you ? " he asked. 

" My name is Stanley," I answered. 

" Ah, yes ! sit down ; I have important business on hand for you." 

After throwing over his shoulders his robe-de-chambre, Mr. Bennett 
asked, " Where do you think Livingstone is ?" 

" I really do not know, sir." 

" Do you think he is alive ?" 

" He may be, and he may not," I answered. 

" Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found, and I am going to 
send you. to find him." 

" What ! " said I, " do you really think I can find Dr. Livingstone? 
Do you mean me to go to Central Africa?" 

" Yes; I mean that you shall go, and find him wherever you may hear 
that he is, and to get what news you can of him, and perhaps " — deliver- 
ing himself thoughtfully and deliberately — " the old man may be in want : 
— take enough with you to help him should he require it. Of course 
you will act according to your own plans, and do what you think best 
— BUT FIND Livingstone!" 

Said I, wondering at the cool order of sending one to Central Africa 
to search for a man whom I, in common with almost all other men, be- 
lieved to be dead, " Have you considered seriously the great expense you 
are likely to incur on' account of this Httle journey?" 

" What will it cost?" he asked abruptly. 

" Burton and Speke's journey to Central Africa cost between ;^3,ooo 
and ;C5,000, and I fear it cannot be done under ^^"2,500." 



so WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thousand pounds 
now, and when you have gone through that, draw another thousand, and 
when that is spent draw another thousand, and when you have finished 
that, draw another thousand, and so on ; but, find Livingstone." 

Surprised but not confused at the order — for I knew that Mr. Bennett 
when once he had made up his mind was not easily drawn aside from his 
purpose — I yet thought, seeing it was such a gigantic scheme, that he 
had not quite considered in his own mind the pros and cons of the case ; 
I said, " I have heard that should your father die you would sell the 
Herald and retire from business." 

" Whoever told you that is wrong, for there is not money enough in 
New York city to buy the New York Herald. My father has made it a great 
paper, but I mean to make it greater. I mean that it shall be a newspa- 
per in the true sehse of the word. I mean that it shall publish whatever 
fnews will be interesting to the world at no matter what cost." 

" After that," said I, " I have nothing more to say. Do you mean me 
to go straight to Africa to search for Dr. Livingstone ? " 

" No ! I wish you to go to the inauguration of the Suez Ganal first, 
and then proceed up the Nile. I hear Baker is about starting for Upper 
Egypt. Find out what you can about his expedition, and as you go up 
describe as well as possible whatever is interesting for tourists ; and then 
write up a guide — a practical one — for Lower Egypt ; tell us about what- 
ever is worth seeing and how to see it. 

A J^ong Journey Planned. 

" Then you might as well go to Jerusalem ; I hear Captain Warren is 
■making some interesting discoveries there. Then visit Constantinople, 
and find out about that trouble between the Khedive and the Sultan. 

" Then — let me see — you might as well visit the Crimea and those old 
battle-grounds. Then go across the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea ; I 
hear there is a Russian expedition bound for Khiva, From thence you 
may get through Persia to India ; you could write an interesting letter 
from Persepolis. 

" Bagdad will be close on your way to India ; suppose you go there, 
and write up something about the Euphrates Valley Railway. Then, 
when you have come to India, you can go after Livingstone. Probably 
you will hear by that time that Livingstone is on his way to Zanzibar ; 
.but if not, go into the interior and find him. If alive, get what news of 
this discoveries you can ; and if you find he is dead, bring all possible 
^proofs of his being dead. That is all. Good-night, and God be with 
.you." 



STANLEY'S EARLY LIFE. 31 

" Good-night, sir," I said ; " what it is in the power of human nature 
lo do I will do ; and on such an errand as I go upon, God will be 
with me." 

The foregoing is Mr. Stanley's interesting account of the manner in 
which he received one of the most important and difficult commissions 
ever given to mortal man. The whole story shows the bold, quick, 
impulsive nature of men who move the world. To think, is to decide ; 
to decide, is to act ; to act, is to achieve. 

Without anticipating those striking experiences through which Stan- 
ley has to pass in the narrative we have before us, suffice it to say that 
in due time he arrived in Africa. Having started from Zanzibar with an 
expedition, the formation of which gave him an opportunity to show his 
perseverance and tact, he began his long search. Difficulties that would 
have appalled other men at the outset were as nothing to him; obstacles 
were cast aside as by a faith that moves mountains into the sea. 
Threatening dangers did not turn him from his lofty purpose. On he 
went, across plains, down through valleys, through tangled jungles, over 
-almost impassable rivers, displaying everywhere and always the most 
wonderful heroism and endurance, until the world was startled at his 
discovery and will evermore applaud his magnificent achievements. 
Wild and Barbarous Country. 

No one who has never explored the wilds of Africa can understand 
the nature of the undertaking which Stanley had before him. In our 
land we can travel into almost every section by railways, by stage 
coaches, or by steamboats. None of these facilities for travelling were 
to be found in Africa, at least in that part of it that Stanley was to visit. 
Some of these means of transit could be created, but they were not in 
existence, and to the explorer was left the double work not merely of 
conducting the expedition, but also of preparing the way for it. 

Thrilling tales have been told of the dangers attending all journeys in 
the Dark Continent. Every book which has been written is alive with 
these tales of adventure. No work has ever been published on Africa 
which does not read more like a romance than reality. We look upon 
the map, we see the location of the various provinces, we trace the great 
rivers winding their way towards the ocean, and, not understanding the 
true character of the country, it may seem to us to be a simple thing to 
pass from one point to another. It is much easier to travel by map than 
in any other way. 

When Livingstone went to Africa he could go but a little way inland 
from the coast without finding his progress barred. While it was left to 



32 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Stanley to follow in his track, there was sometimes a difficulty in learning 
the path which Livingstone had taken, and it was also very difficult for 
a man unused to African exploration to complete so long a journey 
without any previous experience. These things render Stanley's final 
success all the more wonderful, and it is not surprising that all readers 
become intensely interested in the story of the man and his exploits. 

Many have been the failures on the part of other explorers, while those 
who have gone out like Gordon Gumming, merely for the purpose of 
sport, have learned the dangers which lie in every step of progress 
through the jungles of Africa. It requires a man of a venturesome 
spirit, a strong nerve, an indomitable will, and a ready disposition to- 
make all manner of sacrifices, to do what has been done in modern times 
toward opening the Tropics to the advance of civilization. It will be 
seen by the following pages what Stanley has accomplished, and the 
wonder is that one man should have succeeded not only in finding 
Livingstone but also in crossing the continent from sea to sea. 

The manner in which the world has followed the travels of Mr. Stanley 
would indicate a personal interest in him and his welfare. He becomes 
better known than most men whom we do not see, and we are compelled 
to enter heartily into sympathy with his plans, his trials, his victories. 
This is the mysterious influence which one strong character has over 
others. We become absorbed in the marvelous story of this man's ad- 
ventures. We follow him eagerly step by step. We are amazed at each 
new revelation, and inquire what greater achievement is to follow. Henry 
M. Stanley is one of the great heroes of modern times. 



CHAPTER 11. 
THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 

Africa a World of .Surprises and Wonders — ^Journeys of Livingstone — The Young 
Scotcli Boy — Born of Noble Parentage— An Ancestry of Sturdy Scotch Qualities — 
David's Factory Life— Eager Thirst for Knowledge — Tending the Loom, with 
One Eye on His Book — Studying Latin — A Lover of Heroic Deeds — Early 
Promise of Rising to Distinction — Resolves to Become a Medical Missionary in 
China — Departure for Africa — Physical Nerve and Endurance — Encounter with a 
Ferocious Lion — Livingstone's Narrow Escape — Gordon Cumming's Descrip- 
tion of the Noble Beast — A Powerful Animal — Beauty of the Lion — Roar of the 
Forest King — Frightful Ferocity — The Lion's Fearlessness — Requirements of 
Lion Hunters — Brave Character of Livingstone. 

a WORLD of surprises, of captivating wonders, opens before us as 
we approach the Continent of Africa. Before relating in detail 
the great achievements of Stanley, particularly his world-re- 
nowned achievement of finding Livingstone, it will be interesting 
to the reader to have some account of the life and travels of the cele- 
brated explorer whom Stanley sought and found. The journeys of Liv- 
ingstone have a thrilling interest and are here narrated. 

David Livingstone was a sturdy Scotchman. There appeared to be 
somewhat of the granite in him which belongs to the highlands of his 
native country. His child-life was at Blantyre, by the beautiful Clyde, 
above Glasgow, in Scotland. He was born there in the year 1813. The 
humble home entertained some proud traditions, treasured through eight 
generations of the family. The young David listened with bounding 
lieart and glowing spirit while his grandfather told the histories and 
legends of the olden time. Culloden was in the story. His great-grand- 
father fell there, fighting for the old line of kings ; and " Ulva Dark," the 
fainily home, had been there. Old Gaelic songs trembled off the lips 
of his grandmother, beguiling the social hours. There Avas the spirit of 
heroism in the home. 

And among the traditions there were those of singular virtue and in- 
tegrity. He classed the dying precept of a hardy ancestor the proudest 
distinction of his family ; that precept was, " Be honest." Honesty is a 
matchless birthright; he claimed it; he was not proud of anything else. 
His father was a man of " unflinching honesty," and was employed by 
the proprietors of Blantyre Works, in conveying very large sums of 

3 (33) 



34 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



money from Glasgow, and by the honorable kindness of the firm his 
integrity was so rewarded that his declining years were spent where he 
had lived, in ease and comfort. He was a man who kept the hearts of 
his children. His kindness and real love were sweeter to them than all 
that wealth sometimes bestows as its peculiar gift. He brought his 




DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

children up religiously; it was in connection with the Kirk of Scot- 
land. 

It is a beautiful tribute of his illustrious son : " My father deserved my 
lasting gratitude and homage for presenting me from my infancy with a 
continuously consistent pious example. I revere his memory." The 



THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. ^35 

mother of the man appears briefly, and passes from the public view. She 
was a quiet, loving, industrious, self-denying, praying mother. God 
knows how to choose mothers for the chosen men. This mother was 
the mother of a great and good man. She was a woman who, by her 
virtue and modesty, and fortitude and courage, could bear a hero and 
inspire him for his destiny. " An anxious house-wife, striving to make 
both ends meet," found time and place to exert a true woman's singular 
and mighty influence upon her little boy. We will not presume to esti- 
mate the magnitude of that influence. We will not say how much his 
home had to do with the singular thoughtfulness and distinguished pre- 
cocity of the child that toiled all day long in the mill with the hundreds 
who worked there, David Livingstone was only ten years old when he 
was put into the factory. 

People ought not to despise little factory-boys. He worked from six 
in the morning until eight at night ; that makes fourteen hours a day, 
and a child just ten years of age. There were very good schools at 
Blantyre ; the teachers were paid one hundred and twenty-five dollars a 
year. The schools were free to the children of the working people. 
David had been in one of these schools. He rtiust have been well 
advanced for his age. The impulse that his mind received in the com- 
mon school was aided by the attractions of the great University at 

Glasgow. 

A liOver of Heroic Deeds. 

Boys in the neighborhood of great colleges have earlier and loftier 
aspirations perhaps. Anyhow we are informed that a part of David 
Livingstone's first week's wages went for " Ruddiman's Rudiments of 
Latin," and that he pressed the study of that language with peculiar 
ardor, in an evening school, from eight to ten o'clock, during a number 
of years. There are many grown men who mourn over their ignorance 
whose work does not fill fourteen hours a day. In those evening hours, 
with a little tired child-body, Livingstone mastered the Latin language, 
and accomplished much in general reading. When he was sixteen years 
old, he was quite in advance of his age. The diligence and self-control 
of the boy was the prophecy of the man. At this early age, too, the 
peculiar tastes and talents which rendered his subsequent life singularly 
successful and vested his work with singular interest began to appear. 

He did not love novels : he loved facts. He was not charmed with the 
woven fancies of effeminacy. ' He delighted in stories of adventure; he 
was always glad to put his hand in the hand of the historian, and be led 
away from familiar scenes to the new and the strange and the difficult. 



36 /• WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The hero spirit was in him. This love of the new and eagerness fpr 
travel were tempered and sanctified by an appreciation of the real and 
the useful. He had delight in scientific books and experiments. The 
home of his childhood was admirably adapted for the development of 
noble character. There was a population of nearly three thousand. 

The people were "good specimens of the Scottish poor," as he tells us 
himself, "in honesty, morality and intelligence." There were all sorts of 
people, of course; they were generally awake to all public questions; 
their interest was intelligent; there were some characters of uncommon 
worth; these persons felt peculiar interest in the thoughtful, studious lad. 
There were near at hand many spots hallowed in Scottish history — spots 
with venerable associations. The Scottish people love old associations; 
they treasure the dear memorials of the past. The ancient domains of 
Bothwell stood with open door to these respected villagers. David 
Livingstone was one of the people, and loved these scenes; he knew 
their history, all their old traditions were in his heart. Even the boy 
$eemed to be more than a boy; the man stood in the background, and 
was outlined clearly in the character of the youth. 

Departure for Africa. 

At this early age David gave sign of rising above his mates, gaining 
distinction in some honorable calling, and becoming an illustrious exam- 
ple of self-reliance and energy. When promoted at the age of nineteen 
to cotton-spinning, he took his books to the factory, and read by placing 
one of them on a portioij of the spinning-jenny, so that he could catch 
sentence after sentence as he passed at his work. He was well paid, 
however, and having determined to prepare himself for becoming a med- 
ical missionary abroad, was enabled, by working with his hands in 
summer, to support himself while attending medical and Greek classes in 
Glasgow in winter, as also the divinity lectures of Dr. Wardlow. He 
was thus able to pass the required examinations, and was at length ad- 
mitted a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Having been charged by the Directors of the London Missionary So- 
ciety to carry on and extend the work of Moffat, Livingstone arrived in 
Cape Town in the summer of 1840, and, after a short rest, started for the 
interior by way of Algoa Bay. A journey of seven hundred miles, of which, 
so far as we have been able to ascertain, no record has been published, 
brought him to Lattaku, then the furthest missionary station of South 
Africa. Here he remained only long enough to recruit his oxen before 
he pressed on northwards to that part of the country inhabited by the 
section of the Bechuana tribe known as the Bakwains, Having satisfied 



THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 3^, 

himself of the existence of a promising field for missionary effort, he re- 
turned to the Kuruman station, rested there for three months, and then 
took up his quarters in the Bakwain countiy itself, at the present Litu- 
baruba, at that time known as Lepelole. 

Determ.ined to neglect nothing which could in any way promote his 
success with the natives, Livingstone now cut himself off from all inter- 
course with Europeans for six months, devoting himself to acquiring an 
insight into the habits, ways of thinking, laws, and language of the 
Bechuanas, and in laying the foundations of a settlement by making a 
canal for irrigation purposes from a river near by. 

A Man Stronger Tlian He liOoked. 

These preliminaries being well advanced, our hero paid a visit to the 
Bakaa, Bamangwato, and the Makalaka. The greater part of this trip 
was performed on foot, the draught oxen being ill, and some of the na- 
tives forming the escort observed in Livingstone's hearing, not knowing 
that he understood them — " He is not strong; he is quite slim, and only 
seems stout because he puts himself into those bags [trousers]; he will 
break down." Stung by these derogatory remarks on his appearance, 
Livingstone revenged himself by keeping the whole party at highest 
speed for several days, and was rewarded later by hearing them speak 
more respectfully of his pedestrian powers. 

Having, without knowing it, approached to within ten days' journey 
of Lake N'gami, afterwards discovered by him, our hero went back to 
Kuruman to bring his luggage to the site of his proposed settlement, but 
before he could do so, came the disappointing news that the Bakwains, 
with whom he had become friendly, had been driven from Lepelole by 
the Baralongs, rendering it impossible for him to carry out his original 
plan. With the courage and energy which distinguished him from the 
first, Livingstone at once set about looking for some other site, and after 
a journey to Bamangwato, to restore to chief Sekomi several of his peo- 
ple who had come down with him to the Kuruman, and for whose safety 
he felt responsible, he selected the beautiful valley of Mabotsa, the home 
of the Makatla branch of the Bechuana tribe, where he removed in 1843. 

Here the chief difficulty to contend with at first was the number and 
ferocity of the lions, which not only leaped into the cattle pens of the 
village of Mabotsa at night, but sometimes attacked the herds in broad 
daylight. Expeditions sent out against the marauders returned without 
having achieved any success, and knowing that if but one of the troop of 
lions were killed the others would take alarm and leave the country, 
Livingstone determined himself to join a sortie against them. 



33 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Great was the consternation of the natives, who firmly believed that a 
neighboring tribe had given them into the power of these merciless 
animals. Their attacks upon them were feeble and half-hearted, so 
that hitherto the lions had come off victors. Livingstone now came to 
their aid, and the cry was — 

" Mount ! mount for the hunting ! the lion is near ! 
The cattle and herdsmen are quaking with fear. 
Call the dogs ! light the torches ! away to the glen ! 
If needs be, we'll beard the fierce brute in his den." 

They discovered their game on a small tree-covered hill. The circle 
of hunters, at first loosely formed around the spot, gradually closed up, 
and became compact as they advanced towards it. Mebalwe, a native 
schoolmaster, who was with Livingstone, seeing one of the lions sitting 
on a piece of rock within the ring, fired but missed him, the ball striking 
the rock by the feet of the animal, which, biting first at the spot struck, 
bounded away, broke through the circle, and escaped, the natives not 
having the courage to stand close and spear him in the attempt, as they 
should have done. The circle re-formed, having yet within it two other 
lions, at which the pieces could not be fired, lest some of the men 
on the opposite side should be hit. Again there was a bound and a 
roar, and yet again ; and the natives scattered and fled, while the lions 
went forth free to continue their devastations. 

" He is Shot ! He is Shot ! " 

But they did not seem to have retreated far, for as the party was 
going round the end of* a hill on their way home to the village, there 
was one of the lordly brutes sitting quietly, as though he had purposely 
planted himself there to enjoy their defeat, and wish them " Good-day." 
It was but a little distance from Livingstone, who, raising his gun, fired 
both barrels. " He is shot ! He is shot ! " is the joyful cry, and the 
people are about to rush in ; but their friend warns them, for he sees the 
tail raised in anger. He is just in the act of ramming down his bullets 
for another fire, when he hears a shout of terror, and sees the lion in 
the act of springing on him. He is conscious only of a blow that makes 
him reel and fall to the ground ; of two glaring eyes, and hot breath 
upon his face; a momentary anguish, as he is seized by the shoulder and 
shaken as a rat by a terrier ; then comes a stupor, which was afterwards 
described as a sort of drowsiness, in which there was no sense of pain 
nor feeling of terror, although there was a perfect consciousness of all 
that was happening. 

Being thus conscious, as one in a trance might be, Livingstone knew 



40 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

that the lion had one paw on the back of his head, and, turning round to 
reheve himself of the pressure, he saw the creature's eyes directed to 
Mebalwe, who, at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, was aiming his gun 
at him. It missed fire in both barrels, and immediately the native 
teacher was attacked by the brute and bitten in the thigh. Another 
man also, who attempted to spear the lion, was seized by the shoulder ; 
but then the bullets which he had received took effect, and, with a quiver 
through all his huge frame, the cattle-lifter rolled over on his side dead. 

A IfarroTV Escape. 

All this occurred in a few moments ; the death-blow had been inflicted 
by Livingstone before the Lion sprang upon him in the blind fury of his 
dying efforts. No less than eleven of his teeth had penetrated the flesh 
of his assailant's arm, and crushed the bone ; it was long ere the wound 
was healed, and all through life the intrepid missionary bore the marks 
of this deadly encounter, and felt its effects in the injured limb. The 
tartan jacket which he had on, wiped, as he believed, the virus from the 
lion's teeth, and so preserved him from much after-suffering, such as was 
experienced by the others who were bitten and had not this protection. 

These ferocious beasts are a constant menace to travellers in some 
parts of Afiica. Of course, if one goes out for the purpose of indulging 
in sport and shooting game, he is not disconcerted when he meets the 
king of the forest in his native lairs. Cumming's account of his en- 
counters with lions is so graphic and interesting that it is here inserted 
in connection with the thrilling story, already related, of Livingstone 
and the lion. 

Mr. Gumming first describes the appearance and habits of the noble 
beast. This is the account of one of the world's most famous hunters, 
whose journeys in the Tropics in pursuit of adventure, have attracted 
universal attention, and have awakened the most eager interest. The 
dignified and truly monarchical appearance of the lion, says Mr. Gum- 
ming, has long rendered him famous among his fellow quadrupeds. 
There is something so noble and imposing in the presence of the lion, 
when seen walking with dignified self-possession, free and undaunted, on 
his native soil, that no description can convey an adequate idea of his 
striking appearance. The lion is exquisitely formed by nature for the 
predatory habits which he is destined to pursue. Gombining in compara- 
tively small compass the qualities of power and agility, he is enabled, by 
means of the tremendous machinery with which nature has gifted him, 
easily to overcome and destroy almost every beast of the forest, however 
superior to him in weight and stature. 



THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 



41 



Though considerably under four feet in height, he has little difficulty 
in dashing to the ground and overcoming the lofty and apparently pow- 
erful giraffe, whose head towers above the trees of the forest, and whose 
skin is nearly an inch in thickness. The lion is the constant attendant of 
the vast herds of buffaloes which frequent the interminable forests of the 
interior; and a full-grown one, so long as his teeth are unbroken, gener- 
ally proves a match for an old bull buffalo, which in size and strength 
greatly surpasses the most powerful breed of American cattle ; the lion 
also preys on all the larger varieties of the antelopes, and on both varie- 




LIONS CAPTURING A BUFFALO. 

ties of the gnoo. The zebra, which is met with in large herds through- 
out the interior, is also a favorite object of his pursuit. 

Lions do not refuse, as has been asserted, to feed upon the venison that 
they have not killed themselves. I have repeatedly discovered lions of 
all ages which had taken possession of, and were feasting upon, the car- 
cases of various game quadrupeds which had fallen before my rifle. 

The lion is very generally diffused throughout the secluded parts of 
Southern Africa. He is, however, nowhere met with in great abund- 
ance, it being very rare to find more than three, or even two families of 



42 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

lions frequenting the same district and drinking at the same fountain. 
When a greater number were met with, I remarked that it was owing to 
long-protracted droughts, which, by drying nearly all the fountains, had 
compelled the game of various districts to crowd the remaining, springs, 
and the lions, according to their custom, followed in the wake. 

Beauty of the Liion. 

It is a common thing to come upon a full-grown lion and lioness asso- 
ciating with three or four large ones nearly full grown ; at other times, 
full-grown males will be found associating and hunting together in a 
happy state of friendship ; two, three, and four full-grown male lions may 
thus be discovered consorting together. 

The male lion is adorned with a long, rank, shaggy mane, v/hich in 
some instances almost sweeps the ground. The color of these manes 
varies, some being dark, and others of a golden yellow. This appear- 
ance has given rise to a prevailing opinion among the Boers that there 
are two distinct varieties of lions, which they distinguish by the respec- 
tive names of " Schwart fore life " and " Chiel fore life ; " this idea, how- 
ever, is erroneous. The color of the lion's mane is generally influenced 
by his age. He attains his mane in the third year of his existence. I 
have remarked that at first it is of a yellowish color ; in the prime of life 
it is blackest, and when he has numbered many years, but still is in the 
full enjoyment of his power, it assumes a yellowish-gray, pepper-and-salt 
sort of color. 

These old fellows are cunning and dangerous, and most to be dreaded. 
The females are utterly destitute of a mane, being covered with a short, 
thick, glossy coat of tawny hair. The manes and coats of lions frequent- 
ing open-lying districts utterly destitute of trees, such as the borders of 
the great Kalahari desert, are more rank and handsome than those inhab- 
iting fertile districts. 

The JRoar of the Forest King. 

One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his voice, 
which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of 
a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible 
sighs ; at other times he startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn 
roars, repeated five or six times in quick succession, each increasing in 
loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six 
low, muffled sounds, very much resembling distant thunder. 

At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring in con- 
cert, one assuming the lead, and two, three, or four more regularly taking 
up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like Scottish stags, they 



THRILLING ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. 43 

roar loudest in cold, frosty nights ; but on no occasions are their voices to 
be heard in such perfection, or so intensely powerful, as when two or three 
strange troops of lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. 
When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of de- 
fiance at the opposite parties ; and when one roars, all roar together, and 
each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. 

The power and grandeur of these nocturnal forest concerts is inconceiv- 
ably striking and pleasing to the hunter's ear. The effect, I may remark, 
is greatly enhanced when the hearer happens to be situated in the depths 
of the forest, at the dead hour of midnight, unaccompanied by any attend- 
ant, and ensconced within twenty yards of the fountain which the sur- 
rounding troops of lions are approaching. Such has been my situation 
many scores of times ; and though I am allowed to have a tolerably good 
taste for music, I consider the catches with which I was then regaled as 
the sweetest and most natural I ever heard. 

As a general rule, lions roar during the night ; their sighing moans 
commencing as the shades of evening envelop the forest, and continuing 
at intervals throughout the night. In distant and secluded regions, how- 
ever, I have constantly heard them roaring loudly as late as nine and ten 
o'clock on a bright sunny morning. In hazy and rainy weather they are 
to be heard at every hour in the day, but their roar is subdued. 

Friglitful Ferocity. 

It often happens that when two strange male lions meet at a fountain a 
terrific combat ensues, which not unfrequently ends in the death of one of 
them. The habits of the lion are strictly nocturnal; during the day he 
lies concealed beneath the shade of some low bushy tree or wide-spread- 
ing bush, either in the level forest or on the mountain side. He is also 
partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long, rank yellow grass, such as occur 
in low-lying vales. From these haunts he sallies forth when the sun goes 
down, and comitiences his nightly prowl. When he is successful in his 
beat and has secured his prey, he does not roar much that night, only 
uttering occasionally a few low moans ; that is, provided no intruders 
approach him, otherwise the case would be very different. 

Lions are ever most active, daring and presuming in dark and stormy 
nights, and consequentlv, on such occasions, the traveler ought more par- 
ticularly to be on his guard. I remarked a fact connected with the lions' 
hour of drinking peculiar to themselves : they seemed unwilling to visit 
the fountains with good moonlight. Thus, when the moon rose early, 
the lions deferred their hour of watering until late in the morning; and 
when the moon rose late, they drank at a very early hour in the night. 



44 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

By this acute system many a grisly Hon saved his bacon, and is now lux- 
uriating in the forest of South Africa, which had otherwise fallen by the 

barrels of my gun. 

The Lion's Fearlessness. 

Owing to the tawny color of the coat with which nature has robed him,, 
he is perfectly invisible in the dark; and although I have often heard 
them loudly lapping the water under my very nose, not twenty yards from 
me, I could not possibly make out so much as the outlinesof their forms. 
When a thirsty lion comes to water he stretches out his massive arms, 
lies down on his breast to drink, and makes a loud lapping noise in drink- 
ing not to be mistaken. He continues lapping up the water for a long 
while, and four or five times during the proceeding he pauses for half a 
minute as if to take breath. 

One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which, in a dark night, 
glow like two balls of fire. The female is more fierce and active than the 
male, as a general rule. Lionesses which have never had young are- 
much more dangerous than those which have. At no time is the lion so 
much to be dreaded as when his partner has got small young ones. At 
that season he knows no fear, and, in the coolest and most intrepid man- 
ner, he will face a thousand men. A remarkable instance of this kind 
came under my own observation, which confirmed the reports I had 
before heard from the natives. 

One day, when out elephant-hunting in the territory of the Baseleka, 
accompanied by two hundred and fifty men, I was astonished suddenly to 
behold a majestic lion slowlj? and steadily advancing towards us with a 
dignified step and undaunted bearing, the most noble and imposing that 
can be conceived. Lashing his tail from side to side, and growling 
haughtily, his terribly expressive eye resolutely fixed upon us, and dis- 
playing a show of ivory well calculated to inspire terror among the timid 
Bechuanas, he approached. 

A Lion Puts to Fligrht 250 Men. 

A headlong flight of the two hundred and fifty men was the immediate 
result ; and, in the confusion of the moment, four couples of my dogs, 
which they had been leading, were allowed to escape in their couples. 
These instantly faced the lion, who, finding that by his bold bearing he 
had succeeded in putting his enemies to flight, now became solicitous for 
the safety of his little family, with which the lioness was retreating in the 
back-ground. Facing about, he followed after them with a haughty and 
independent step, growling fiercely at the dogs which trotted along on 
each side of him. Three, troops of elephants having been discoverec^ 



46 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

a few minutes previous to this, upon which I was marching for the 
attack, I, with the most heartfelt reluctance, reserved my fire. On run- 
ning down the hill side to endeavor to recall my dogs, I observed, for 
the first time, the retreating lioness with four cubs. About twenty 
minutes afterward two noble elephants repaid my forbearance. 

Among Indian Nimrods, a certain class of royal tigers is dignified with 
the appellation of " man-eaters." These are tigers which, having once 
tasted human flesh, show a predilection for the same, and such charac- 
ters are very naturally famed and dreaded among the natives. Elderly 
gentlemen of similar tastes and habits are occasionally met with among 
the lions in the interior of South Africa, and the danger of such neigh- 
bors may be easily imagined. I account for lions first acquiring this 
taste in the following manner: some tribes of the far interior do 
not bury their dead, but unceremoniously carry them forth, and leave 
them lying exposed in the forest or on the plain, a prey to the lion and 
hyaena, or the jackal and vulture; and I can readily imagine that a lion, 
having thus once tasted human flesh, would have little hesitation, when 
opportunity presented itself, of springing upon and carrying off the 
unwary traveler or native inhabiting his country. 
The Man-Eater at Work. 

Be this as it may, man-eating occurs; and on my fourth hunting expe- 
dition, a horrible tragedy was acted one dark night in my little lonely 
; camp by one of these formidable characters, which deprived me, in the far 
wilderness, of my most valuable servant. In winding up these observations 
on the lion, I may remark that lion-hunting, under any circumstances, is 
decidedly a dangerous pursuit. It may nevertheless be followed, to a 
certain extent, with comparative safety by those who have naturally a 
: turn for that sort of thing. A recklessness of death, perfect coolness 
and self-possession, an acquaintance with the disposition and manners 
of lions, and a tolerable knowledge of the use of the rifle, are indis- 
pensable to him who would shine in the overpoweringly exciting 
pastime of hunting this justly celebrated king of beasts. 

Livingstone himself narrates minutely his dreadful encounter with a 
lion. He always regarded it as one of his most thrilling experiences in 
I Africa, and he had occasion to remember it from the fact that he was 
. so severely injured. The wonder is that when the ferocious beast had 
the great explorer in his power and might easily have taken his life, he 
should have been prevented from doing it. A few moments more and 
the life of one of the world's greatest heroes would have been terminated. 



CHAPTER III. 
LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 

Livingstone's Life Among the Backwains — An Intelligent Chief — Trying to Whip* 
the Heathen into Conversion — Appearance of the Backwains — Peculiar Head- 
Dress— Expert Thieves — A Bewitched Kettle — A Horrible Deed — An African 
Congress — Thrilling War Songs — Carrying on War for Glory — Livingstone's 
Interest in this Tribe — Singular Superstitions — Medicine Men and Rain Doctors — 
Barbarous Practices — Severe Training for Boys — The Girls' Ordeal — Romantic 
Dances — Construction of Houses — Curious Burial Customs — Funeral Dances 
Among the Latookas — An Active Chief — The Rich No Better Than the Poor — 
Odd Decorations — Graceful Movements. 



(|^^0R years Livingtone labored among the Backwains, at Chonuane,, 
'¥t whose chief was a man of great intelligence, but who had some 
amusing ideas and ways. When he embraced Christianity he 
wanted to make his subjects converts by thrashing them with whips of 
rhinoceros hide. Livingstone could not approve of this new mode of 
conversion, and the chief was persuaded to pursue a milder course. 

As Livingstone labored for years among the Backwains, or Bechuanas,^ 
a full account of the manners, customs, and singular character of this 
tribe will be of interest to the reader. 

In appearance they are a fine race of men, in some respects similar to 
the Kaffirs, with whom they have many customs in common. Their 
dress is not very remarkable, except that they are perhaps the best dress- 
ers of skins that are to be found in Africa, the pliancy of the skin and 
the neatness of the sewing being unrivalled. They are good workers in 
metal, and supply many of the surrounding tribes both with ornaments 
and weapons. 

As to dress, the Bechuanas, as a rule, use more covering than many of 
the surrounding tribes. The women especially wear several aprons. 
The first is made of thongs, like those of the Kaffirs, and over that is 
generally one of skin. As she can afford it she adds others, but always 
contrives to have the outside apron decorated with beads or other adorn- 
ments. 

This series of aprons, however, is all that a Bechuana woman considers 
necessary in the way of dress, the kaross, or outside garment, being 
adopted merely as a defence against the weather, and not from any idea 
that covering to the body is needed for the purpose of delicacy. In 

(47) 



48 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



figure they are not so prepossessing as many of the surrounding tribes, 
'being usually short, stout, and clumsy, which latter defect is rendered 
still more conspicuous by the quantities of beads which they hang in heavy 
coils around their waists and necks, and the multitude of metal rings with 
which they load their arms and ankles. They even load their hair as much 
as possible, drawing it out into a series of little spokes, and dressing them 
so copiously with grease and sibila, that at a few yards they look as if their 
heads were covered with a cap composed of metallic prongs, and at a 
greater distance as if they were wearing bands of polished steel on their 
heads. 

They consider a plentiful smearing of grease and red ochre to be the 
very acme of a fashionable toilet, and think that washing the body is a 

disgusting custom. Women are 
the smokers of the tribe, the men 
preferring snuff, and rather despis- 
ing the pipe as a woman's imple- 
ment. 

The Bechuanas can hardly be 
selected as examples of good moral 
character. No one who knows 
them can believe a word they say, 
and they will steal everything that 
they can carry. They are singu- 
larly accomplished thieves, and the 
habit of stealing is so ingrained in 
their nature, that if a man is de- 
tected in the veiy act he feels not 
the least shame, but rather takes 
blame to himself for being so inexpert as to be found out. Small 
articles they steal in the most ingenious manner. Should it be hang- 
ing up, they contrive to handle it carelessly and let it fall on the 
ground, and then they begin active operations. Standing near the coveted 
article, and trying to look as if they were not aware of its existence, they 
quietly scrape a hole in the sand with one of their feet, push the object 
of their desire into the hole, cover it up again with sand, and smooth the 
surface so as to leave no trace that the ground has been disturbed. 

They steal each other's goods, whenever they can find an opportunity, 
but they are only too glad to find an opportunity of exercising their art 
on a white man, whose property is sure to be worth stealing. A travel- 
ler in their country has therefore a hard life, for he knows that there is 




PECULIAR HEAD-DRESS. 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 49 

aiot a single article in his possession which will not vanish if he leaves it 

unguarded for a few minutes. Indeed, as Mr. Baines well observes, there 

is not an honest nerve or fibre in a Bechuana's body ; from the root of 

his tongue to the tips of his toes, every muscle is thoroughly trained in 

the art of thieving. If they merely sit near an article of moderate size, 

when they move off it moves with them, in a manner that no wearer of 

trousers can conceive. Even Mr. Moffatt, who had a singular capacity 

for discovering good qualities which had lain latent and unsuspected, 

writes in very forcible terms respecting the utter dishonesty of the 

Bechuanas. 

Stealing Cattle by Mght. 

Some mornings, says Mr. Moffatt, we had to record thefts committed 
in the course of twenty-four hours, in our houses, our smith-shop, our 
garden, and among our cattle in the field. These they have more than 
once driven into a bog or mire, at a late hour informing us of the acci- 
dent, as they termed it ; and, as it was then too dark to render assistance^ 
one or more would fall a prey to the hyaenas or hungry natives. One 
night they entered our cattle-fold, killed one of our best draught oxen, 
and carried the whole away, except one shoulder. We were compelled 
to use much meat, from the great scarcity of grain and vegetables; our 
sheep we had to purchase at a distance, and very thankful might we be 
if out of twenty we secured the largest half for ourselves. They would 
break their legs, cut off their tails, and more frequently carry off the 
whole carcass. 

Tools, such as saws, axes, and adzes, were losses severely felt, as we 
could not at that time replace them, when there was no intercourse what- 
ever with the colony. Some of our tools and utensils which they stole, 
on finding the metal not what they expected, they would bring back 
beaten into all shapes, and offer them in exchange for some other article 
of value. Knives were always eagerly coveted ; our metal spoons they 
melted; and when we were supplied with plated iron ones, which they 
found not so pliable, they supposed them bewitched. Very often, when 
■employed working at a distance from the house, if there was no one in 
whom he could confide, the missionary would be compelled to carry 
them all to the place where he went to seek a draught of water, well know- 
ing that if they were left they would take wings before he could return. 
An Iron Kettle Be\vitclied. 

The following ludicrous circumstance once happened, and was related 
to the writer by a native in graphic style. Two men had succeeded in 
-Stealing an iron pot Having just taken it from the fire, it was rather 

4 



50 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

warm for handing conveniently over a fence, and by doing so it fell on a 
stone, and was cracked. '• It is iron," said they, and off they went witk 
their booty, resolving to make the best of it ; that is, if it would not 
serve for cooking, they would transform it into knives and spears. After 
some time had elapsed, and the hue and cry about the missing pot had 
nearly died away, it was brought forth to a native smith, who had laid 
in a stock of charcoal for the occasion. The pot was further broken to 
make it more convenient to lay hold of with the tongs, which are gener- 
ally made of the bark of a tree. The native Vulcan, unacquainted with 
cast iron, having with his small bellows, one in each hand, produced a 
good heat, drew a piece from the fire. To his utter amazement, it flew 
into pieces at the first stroke of his little hammer. Another and another 
piece was brought under the action of the fire, and then under the 
hammer, with no better success. Both the thief and the smith, gazing- 
with eyes and mouth dilated on the fragments of iron scattered round 
the stone anvil, declared their belief that the pot was bewitched, and 
concluded pot-stealing to be a bad speculation. 

Expert Thieves. 

To the thieving. propensities of these people there was no end. They 
would peep into the rude hut that was used for a church, in order to see 
who was preaching, and would then go off to the preacher's house, and 
rob it at their ease. When the missionaries, at the expense of great 
labor, made a series of irrigating canals, for the purpose of watering their 
gardens, the women woulc^ slyly cut the banks of the channels, and divert 
the water. They even broke down the dam which led the water from 
the river, merely for the sake of depriving somebody of something ; and 
when, in spite of all their drawbacks, some vegetables had been grown, 
the crops were stolen, even though a constant watch was kept over them. 

These accomplished thieves have even been known to steal meat out 
of the pot in which it was being boiled, having also the insolence to 
substitute a stone for the pilfered meat. One traveller found that all his 
followers were so continually robbed by the Bechuanas, that at last he 
ceased from endeavoring to discover the thieves, and threatened instead 
to punish any man who allowed an article to be stolen from him. They 
do not even spare their own chief, and would rob him with as little 
compunction as if he were a foreigner. 

There was need among such people of more than one Livingstone to 
teach them the virtue of honesty. 

Dr. Lichtenstein, who certainly had a better opmion of the Bechuanas 
than they deserved, was once cheated by them in a very ingenious 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 51 

manner. He had purchased three ivory rings with some tobacco, but 
when he left the place he found that the same ring had been sold to him 
three successive times, the natives behind him having picked his pockets 
with the dexterity of a London thief, and then passed the ring to their 
companions to be again offered for sale. 

Altogether, the character of the Bechuanas does not seem to be an 
agreeable one, and even the missionaries who have gone among them, 
and naturally are inclined to look on the best side of their wild flocks, 
have very little to say in their favor, and plenty to say against them. 
They seem to be as heartless toward the infirm and aged as the Nama- 
quas, and if one of their number is ill or wounded, so that he cannot 
wait upon himself, he is carried outside the camp, and there left until he 
recovers or dies. A small and frail hut is built for him, a portion of food 
is given to him daily, and in the evening a fire is made, and fuel placed 
near so that it may be kept up. On one occasion the son of a chief was 
wounded by a buffalo, and, according to ancient custom, was taken out 
of the camp. The fire happened to go out, and in consequence a lion 
came and carried off the wounded man in the night. It was once thought 
that this cruel custom arose from the fear of infection, but this is evi- 
dently not the case, as persons afflicted with infectious diseases are not 
disturbed as long as they can help themselves. Superstition may prob- 
ably be the true reason for it. 

A Horrible Deed. 

They have but little regard for human life, especially that of a woman, 
and a husband may kill his wife if he likes, without any particular notice 
being taken of it. One traveller mentions that a husband became angry 
with his wife about some trifling matter, seized his assagai, and killed her 
on the spot. The body was dragged out by the heels, and thrown into 
the bush to be devoured by the hysenas, and there was an end of the 
whole business. The traveller, being horrified by such an action, laid an 
information before the chief, and was only laughed at for his pains, the 
chief thinking that for anyone to be shocked at so ordinary an occur- 
rence was a very good joke. 

Still, the Bechuana has his redeeming qualities. They are not quar- 
relsome, and Burchell remarks that, during all the time which he spent 
among them, he never saw two men openly quarrelling, nor any public 
breach of decorum. They are persevering and industrious in the arts of 
peace, and, as has been seen, learn to work in iron and to carve wood 
with a skill that can only be attained by long and careful practice. They 
are more attached to the soil than many of the neighboring tribes, culti- 



62 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. : 

vating it carefully, and in this art far surpassing the Kaffirs. Their 
houses, too, are of elaborate construction, and built with a care and so- 
lidity which show that the inhabitants are not nomads, but residents on 
one spot. 

The government of the Bechuanas is primarily monarchical, but not 
entirely despotic. The king has his own way in most matters, but his 
chiefs can always exercise a check upon him by summoning a parliament, 
or " Picho," as it is called. The Picho affords a truly wild and pictur- 
esque spectacle. The warriors, in their full panoply of war, seat them- 
selves in a circle, in the midst of which is the chair of the king. The 
various speakers take their turns at addressing the assembly, and speak 
with the greatest freedom, not even sparing the king himself, but pub- 
licly arraigning him for any shortcomings, real or fancied, and sometimes 
gaining their point. As to the king himself, he generally opens the par- 
liament with a few sentences, and then remains silent until all the speeches 
have been delivered. He then answers those that have been made against 
himself, and becomes greatly excited, leaping about the ring, brandishing 
his spear and shield, and lashing himself into an almost frantic state. 
This is the usual procedure among savages, and the more excited a man 
becomes, the better he is supposed to speak afterward. 

An African Congress. 

An extract from Mr. Moffatt's account of a Picho will give a good idea 
of the proceedings: Although the whole exhibits a veiy grotesque scene, ^ 
business is carried on v^ih the most perfect order. There is but little 
cheering, and still less hissing, while every speaker fearlessly states his 
own sentiments. The audience is seated on the ground, each man having 
before him his war-club. Many were adorned with tiger-skins and tails, 
and had plumes of feathers waving on their heads. In the centre a suffi- 
cient space was left for the privileged — those who had killed an enemy 
in battle — to dance and sing, in which they exhibited the most violent 
and fantastic gestures conceivable, which drew forth from the spectators 
the most clamorous applause. 

When they retire to their seats, the speaker commences by command- 
ing silence. " Be silent, ye Batlapis, be silent, ye Barolongs," addressing 
each tribe distinctly, not excepting the white people, if any happen to be 
present, and to which each responds with a groan. He then takes from 
his shield a spear, and points it in the direction in which the enemy is 
advancing, imprecating a curse upon them, and thus declaring war by re- 
peatedly thrusting his spear in that direction, as if plunging it into an 
enemy. This receives a loud whistling sound of applause. He next 




(53) 



54 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

directs his spear toward the Bushman country, south and southwest, 
imprecating also a curse on those " ox-eaters," as they are called. 

The king, on this, as on all similar occasions, introduced the business 
of the day by " Ye sons of Molchabanque " — viewing all the influential 
men present as the friends or allies of his kingdom, which rose to more 
than its former eminence under the reign of that monarch, his father — 
" the Mantatees are a strong and victorious people ; they have over- 
whelmed many nations, and they are approaching to destroy us. We 
have been apprised of their manners, their deeds, their weapons, and their 
intentions ! We cannot stand against the Mantatees ; we must now 
concert, conclude, and be determined to stand. 

Tlirilling War-Song^s. 

" The case is a great one. I now wait to hear what the general 
opinion is. Let every one speak his mind, and then I shall speak 
again." Mothibi manoeuvred his spear as at the commencement, and 
then pointing it toward heaven, the audience shouted "Pula" (rain), on 
which he sat down amidst a din of applause. Between each speaker a 
part or verse of a war-song is sung, the same antics are then performed, 
and again universal silence is commanded. 

When several speakers had delivered their sentiments, chiefly exhort- 
ing to unanimity and courage, Mothibi resumed his central position, and 
after the usual gesticulations, commanded silence. Having noticed some 
remarks of the preceding speakers, he added : " It is evident that the best 
plan is to proceed against the enemy, that they come no nearer. Let not 
our towns be the seat of war ; let not our houses be the scenes of blood- 
shed and destruction. No ! let the blood of the enemy be spilt at a dis- 
tance from our wives and children." Turning to the aged chief, he said : 
"I hear you, my father; I understand you, my father; your words are 
true, they are good for the ear ; it is good that we be instructed by the 
Makooas ; I wish those evil who will not obey ; I wish that they may be 
broken into pieces." 

Then addressing the warriors, " There are many of you who do 
not deserve to eat out of a bowl, but only out of a broken pot ; think 
on what has been said, and obey without murmuring. I command you, 
ye chiefs of the Batlapis, Batlares, Bamairis, Barolongs, and Bakotus, that 
you acquaint all your tribes of the proceedings of this day ; let none 
be ignorant; I say again, ye warriors, prepare for the battle; let your 
shields be strong, your quivers full of arrows, and your battle-axes 
as sharp as hunger. Be silent, ye kidney-eaters " (addressing the old 
men), " ye are of no further use but to hang about for kidneys when 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 55 

•an ox is slaughtered. If your oxen are taken, where will you get any 
more?" This was the chief's spirited address to the men. 
Eloquent Appeal to Womeii. 

Turning to the women he said, " Prevent not the warrior from going 
out to battle by your cunning insinuations. No, rouse the warrior to 
glory, and he will return with honorable scars, fresh marks of valor will 
cover his thighs, and we shall then renew the war-song and dance, and 
relate the story of our conquest." At the conclusion of this speech the 
air was rent with acclamations, the whole assembly occasionally joining 
in the dance; the women frequently taking the weapons from the bands 
of the men and brandishing them in the most violent manner, people of all 
ages using the most extravagant and frantic gestures for nearly two hours. 

In explanation of the strange word, "kidney-eaters," the reader must 
be made aware that kidneys are eaten only by the old of both sexes. 
Young people will not touch them on any account, from the superstitious 
idea that they can have no children if they do so. The word of applause, 
"pula," or rain, is used metaphorically to signify that the words of the 
speaker are to the hearers like rain on a thirsty soil. 

In the last few lines of the king's speech, mention is made of the 
"honorable scars upon the thighs." He is here alluding to a curious 
practice among the Bechuanas. After a battle, those who have killed an 
enemy assemble by night, and, after exhibiting the trophies of their 
prowess, each goes to the prophet or priest, who takes a sharp assagai 
and makes a long cut from the hip to the knee. One of these cuts is 
made for each enemy that has been slain, and some distinguished war- 
riors have their legs absolutely striped with scars. 
The Order of tlie Scar. 

As the wound is a tolerably deep one, and as ashes are plentifully rubbed 
'into it, the scar remains for life, and is more conspicuous than it would be 
in an American, leaving a white track upon the dark skin. In spite of 
the severity of the wound, all of the successful warriors join in a dance, 
which is kept up all night, and only terminates at sunrise. < No one is 
allowed to make the cut for himself, and anyone who did so would at 
once be detected by the jealous eyes of his companions. Moreover, in 
order to substantiate his claim, each warrior is obliged to produce his 
trophy — a small piece of flesh with the skin attached, cut from the body 
of his foe. 

When the ceremony of investiture with the Order of the Scar takes 
place, a large fire is made, inside which no one may pass except the priest 
and those who can show a trophy. On the outside of the fence are con- 



§6 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

gregated the women and all the men who have not been fortunate enough 
to distinguish themselves. One by one the warriors advance to the 
priest, show the trophy, have it approved, and then take their place round 
the fire. Each man then lays the trophy on the glowing coals, and, when it 
is thoroughly roasted, eats it. This custom arises from a notion that the 
courage of the slain warrior then passes into the body of the man who 
killed him, and aids also in making him invulnerable. The Bechuanas 
do not like this custom, but, on the contrary, view it with nearly as much 
abhorrence as Europeans can do, only yielding to it from a desire not to 
controvert the ancient custom of their nation. 

Butchery for Glory. 

It may well be imagined that this ceremony incites the warriors, both 
old and young, to distinguish themselves in battle, in order that they may 
have the right of entering the sacred fence, and be publicly invested with 
the honorable scar of valor. On one such occasion, a man who was well 
known for his courage could not succeed in killing any of the enemy, 
because their numbers were so comparatively small that all had been 
killed before he could reach them. At night he was almost beside him- 
self with anger and mortification, and positively wept with rage at being 
excluded from the sacred enclosure. At last he sprang away from the 
place, ran at full speed to his house, killed one of his own servants, and 
returned to the spot, bringing with him the requisite passport of admit- 
tance. In this act he was held to be perfectly justified, because the slain 
man was a captive taken in war, and therefore, according to Bechuanan ^ 
ideas, his life belonged to' his master, and could be taken whenever it 
might be more useful to him than the living slave. 

In war, the Bechuanas are but cruel enemies, killing the wounded with- 
out mercy, and even butchering the inoffensive women and children. The 
desire to possess the coveted trophy of success is probably the cause of 
their ruthlessness. In some divisions of the Bechuana tribes, such as the 
Bachapins, the successful warriors do not eat the trophy, but dry it and 
hang it round their necks, eating instead a portion of the liver of the slain 
man. In all cases, however, it seems that some part of the enemy has to 
be eaten. 

The weapons used in war are not at all like those which are employed 
by the Kaffirs. The Bechuanan shield is much smaller than that of the 
Kaffirs. The assagai is not intended to be used as a missile, but as a 
weapon for hand-to-hand combat. Indeed, the amount of labor which is 
bestowed upon it renders it too valuable to be flung at an enemy, who 
might avoid the blow, and then seize the spear and keep it. 










WARRIOR WITH SPEARS AND SHIELD. 



(57> 



58 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The Bechuanas have one weapon which is very effective at close quar- 
ters. This is the battle-axe. Various as are the shapes of the heads, 
they are all made on one principle, and, in fact, an axe is nothing more 
than an enlarged spearhead fixed transversely on the handle. The ordi- 
nary battle-axes have their heads fastened to wooden handles, but the 
best examples have the handles made of rhinoceros horn. 

Dr. Livingstone was greatly interested in these barbarous people. He 
studied their customs, their domestic life, their warfare, their traditions, 
their very thoughts. By a long residence among them he became thor- 
oughly acquainted with everything of interest pertaining to them. The 
wild life of Africa did not daunt our renowned explorer; he had gone to 
the Dark Continent knowing how dark it was. To Livingstone belongs 
the credit of carrying the light of knowledge and religion to this remark- 
able people. 

Strange Superstitions. 

Of religion the Bechuanans knew nothing, though they have plenty of 
-superstition, and are as utter slaves to their witch doctors as can well be 
conceived. The life of one of these personages is full of danger. He 
practises his ar^^s with the full knowledge that if he should fail, death is 
nearly certain fo be the result. Indeed, it is very seldom that a witch 
doctor, especially if he should happen to be also a rain-maker, dies a 
natural death- he generally falling a victim to the clubs of his quondam 
followers. 

These men evidently practice the art of conjuring, as we understand 
the word; and they can perTform their tricks with great dexterity. One 
of thesi^ men exhibited several of his performances to Mr. Baines, the 
well-known traveller, and displayed no small ingenuity in the magic art. 
Hie first trick was to empty, or to appear to empty, a skin bag and an 
old hat, and then to shake the bag over the hat, when a piece of meat or 
hide fell from the former into the latter. Another performance was to 
tie up a bead necklace in a wisp of grass, and hand it to one of the 
white spectators to burn. He then passed the bag to the most incredu- 
lous of the spectators, allowed him to feel it and prove that it was empty, 
while the hat was being examined by Mr. Baines and a friend. Calling 
out to the holder of the bag, he pretended to throw something through 
the air, and, when the bag was duly shaken, out fell the beads into 
the 'hat. 

This was really a clever trick, and, though any reader who has some 
practical acquaintance with the art of legerdemain can see how it was 
<done, it is not a little surprising to see such dexterity possessed by a sav- 




(59) 



60 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

age. The success of this trick was the more remarkable because the 
holder of the bag had rather unfairly tried to balk the performer. 
Tlie Conjurer Exposed. 

On a subsequent occasion, however, the conjurer attempted the same 
trick, varjn'ng it by requesting the beads should be broken instead of 
burned. The holder of the beads took the precaution of marking them 
with ink before breaking them, and in consequence all the drumming of 
the conjurer could not reproduce them until after dark, when another 
string of beads, precisely similar in appearance, was found under the 
wagon. Being pressed on the subject, the conjurer admitted that they 
were not the same beads, but said that they had been sent s upern at u rally 
to replace those which had been broken. 

The same operator was tolerably clever at tricks with cord, but had to 
confess that a nautical education conferred advantages in that respect to 
which his supernatural powers were obliged to yield. He once invited 
Mr. Baines to see him exhibit his skill in the evening. A circle of girls 
and women now surrounded the wizard, and commenced a pleasing but 
monotonous chant, clapping their hands in unison, while he, seated alter- 
nately on a carved stool and on a slender piece of reed covered with a 
skin to prevent its hurting him, kept time for the hand-clapping, and 
seemed trying to work himself up to the required state of inspiration, till 
his whole flesh quivered like that of a person in the ague. 

A few preparatory anointings of the joints of all his limbs, his breast 
and forehead, as well as tho^ of his choristers, followed ; shrill whistlings 
were interchanged with spasmodic gestures, and now it was found that the 
exhibition of the evening was a bona fide medical operation on the person 
of a man who lay covered with skins outside of the circle. The posterior 
portion of the thigh was chosen for scarification, but as the fire gave no 
light in that direction, and the doctor and the relatives liked no one to 
touch the patient, no one could ascertain how deep the incisions were made. 
Most probably, from the scars seen of former operations of the kind, they 
were merely deep enough to draw blood. 

Curing- a Sick Man. 

The singing and hand-clapping now grew more vehement, the doctor 
threw himself upon the patient, perhaps sucked the wound, at all events 
pretended to inhale the disease. Strong convulsions seized him, and, as 
he was a man of powerful frame, it required no little strength to hold him. 
At length, with upturned eyes and face expressive of suffocation, he seized 
his knife, and, thrusting it into his mouth, took out a large piece appar- 
ently of hide and flesh, which his admiring audience supposed him to 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 61 

have previously drawn from the body of the patient, thus removing the 
<:ause of the disease. 

Sometimes the Bechuana doctor uses a sort of dice, if such a term 
may be used when speaking of objects totally unlike the dice which are 
used in this country. In form they are pyramidal, and are cut from the 
cloven hoof of a small antelope. These articles do not look very valuable, 
but they are held in the highest estimation, inasmuch as very few know 
how to prepare them, and they are handed down from father to son 
through successive generations. The older they are, the more powerful 
are they supposed to be, and a man who is fortunate enough to possess 
tliem can scarcely be induced to part with them. 

These magic dice are used when the proprietor wishes to know the 
result of some undertaking. He smooths a piece of ground with his 
hand, holds the dice between his fingers, moves his hands up and down 
several times, and then allows them to fall. He then scans them care- 
fully, and judges from their position what they fortell. The characters 
or figures described on the surface have evidently some meaning, but 
what their signification was the former possessor either did not know, or 
did not choose to communicate. 

A Cliarm for the Neck. 

The children, when they first begin to trouble themselves and their 
parents by the process of teething, are often furnished with a kind of 
amulet. It is made of a large African beetle. A number of them are 
killed, dried, and then strung on leathern thongs, so as to be Avorn round 
the neck. These objects have been mistaken for whistles. The Bechu- 
anas have great faith in their powers when used for teething, and think 
that they are efficacious in preventing various infantile disorders. 

Like the Kaffirs, the Bechuanas make use of certain religious cere- 
monies before they go to war. One of these rites consists of laying a 
charm on the cattle, so that they shall not be seized by the enemy. The 
oxen are brought singly to the priest, if we may so call him, who is 
furnished with a pot of black paint, and a jackal's tail by way of a brush. 
With this primitive brush he makes a certain mark upon the hind leg of 
the animal, while at the same time an assistant, who kneels behind him, 
repeats the mark in miniature upon his back or arms. To this ceremony 
they attribute great value; and, as war is almost invariably made for the 
sake of cattle, the Bechuanas may well be excused for employing any 
rite which they fancy will protect such valued possessions. 

Among one branch of the Bechuana tribe, a very remarkable ceremony 
is observed when the boys seek to be admitted into the rank of men. 



62 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The details are kept very secret, but a few of the particulars have been ; 
discovered. Dr. Livingstone, for example, happened once to witness the 
second stage of the ceremonies, which last for a considerable time. 

A number of boys, about fourteen years of age, without a vestige of 
clothing, stood in a row, and opposite those was an equal number of men, , 
each having in his hand a long switch cut from a bush belonging to the - 
genus Grewia, and called in the native language moretloa. The twigs of 
this bush are very strong, tough, and supple. Both the men and boys 
were engaged in an odd kind of dance, called " koha," which the men 
evidently enjoyed, and the boys had to look as if they enjoyed it too. . 
Each boy was furnished with a pair of the ordinary hide sandals, which , 
he wore on his hands instead of his feet. At stated intervals, the men 
put certain questions to the boys, respecting their future life wherk;, 
admitted into the society of men. I 

Barbarous Practices. 

For example, the youth is tried in some such way as the following: 

" Will you herd the cattle well ? " asks the man. 

"I will," answers the boy, at the same time lifting his sandalled hands, 
over his head. The man then leaps forward, and with his full force 
strikes at the boy's head. The blow is received on the uplifted sandals, 
but the elasticity of the long switch causes it to curl over the boj/'s head 
with such force that a deep gash is made in his back, some twelve or, 
eighteen inches in length, from which the blood spirts as if it were made, 
with a knife. Ever afterward, the lesson that he is to guard the cattle, 
is supposed to be indelibly impressed on the boy's mind. i 

Then comes another question, " Will you guard the chief well? " 

" I will," replies the boy, and another stroke impresses that lesson on, 
the boy's mind. And thus they proceed, until the whole series of ques- 
tions has been asked and properly answered. The worst part of the. 
proceeding is, that the boys are obliged, under penalty of rejection, to 
continue their dance, to look pleased and happy, and not to wince at the 
terrible strokes which cover their bodies with blood, and seam their, 
backs with scars that last throughout their lifetime. Painful as this ordeal 
must be, the reader must not think that it is nearly so formidable to the; 
Bechuanas as it would be to Americans. In the first place, the nervous, 
system of a white man is far more sensitive than that of South African, 
natives, and injuries which would lay him prostrate have but little effect 
upon them. Moreover, their skin, from constant exposure to the ele-; 
ments, is singularly insensible, so that the stripes do not inflict a tenth 
part of the pain that they would if suffered by a white person. , 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 



63 



Only the older men are allowed to take part in this mode of instruc-- 
tion of the boys, and if any man should attempt it who is not qualified 
he is unpleasantly reminded of his presumption by receiving on his own 
back the stripes which he intended to inflict on the boys, the old men 
being in such a case simultaneously judges and executioners. No eleva- 
tion of rank will allow a man to thus transgress with impunity ; and on 
one occasion, Sekomi himself, the chief of the tribe, received a severe 




TRAINING ROYS FOR HARDSHIPS. 

blow on the leg from one of his own people. This kind of ordeal, called 
the Sechu, is only practised am9ng three tribes, one of which is the Ba- 
mangwato, of which Sekomi was the chief 

It takes place every six or seven years, so that a large number of boys 
are collected. These are divided into bands, each of which is under the 
command of one of the sons of the chief, and each member is supposed 
to be a companion of his leader for life. They are taken into the woods 



■64 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

by the old men, where they reside for some time, and where, to judge 
from their scarred and seamed backs, their residence does not appear to 
be of the most agreeable description. When they have passed through 
the different stages of the boguera, each band becomes a regiment or 
" mopato," and goes by its own name. 

According to Dr. Livingstone, they recognize a sort of equality and 
partial communion afterward, and address each other by the name of 
Molekane, or comrade. In cases of offence against their rules, as eating 
alone when any of their comrades are within call, or in cases of derelic- 
tion of duty, they may strike one another, or any member of a younger 
mopato, but never one of an older band ; and, when three or four com- 
panies have been made, the oldest no longer takes the field in time of 
war, but remains as a guard over the women and children. When a 
fugitive comes to a tribe, he is directed to the mopato analogous to that 
to which in his own tribe he belongs, and does duty as a member. 

The girls have to pass an ordeal of a somewhat similar character be- 
fore they are admitted among the women, and can hope to attain the 
summit of an African girl's hopes, namely, to be married. If possible, 
the details of the ceremony are kept even more strictly secret than is the 
case with the boys, but a part of it necessarily takes place in public, and 
is therefore well known. 

How African Girls are Touglienecl. 

The girls are commanded by an old and experienced woman, always a 
stern and determined personage, who carries them off into the woods, 
and there instructs them in all the many arts which they will have to 
practise when married. Clad in a strange costume, composed of ropes 
of melon-seeds and bits of quill, the ropes being passed over both 
shoulders and across their bodies in a figure-of-eight position, they are 
drilled into walking with large pots of water on their heads. Wells are 
purposely chosen which are at a considerable distance, in order to inure 
the girls to fatigue, and the monitress always chooses the most inclement 
days for sending them to the greatest distance. They have to carry 
heavy loads of wood, to handle agricultural tools, to build houses, and, 
in fact, to practise before marriage those tasks which are sure to fall to 
their lot afterward. 

Capability of enduring pain is also insisted upon, and the monitress 
tests their powers by scorching their arms with burning charcoal. Of 
course, all these severe labors require that the hands should be hard and 
horny, and accordingly the last test which the girls have to endure is 
holding in the hand for a certain time a piece of hot iron. 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 65 

Rough and rude as this school of instruction may be, its purport is 
judicious enough; inasmuch as when the girls are married, and enter 
upon their new duties, they do so with a full and practical knowledge of 
them, and so escape the punishment which they would assuredly receive 
if they were to fail in their tasks. The name of the ceremony is called 
""Bogale." During the time that it lasts, the girls enjoy several privi- 
leges, one of which is highly prized. If a boy who has not passed 
through his ordeal should come in their way, he is at once pounced upon 
and held down by some, while others bring a supply of thorn-branches, 
and beat him seveMy with this unpleasant rod. Should they be in suffi- 
cient numbers, they are not very particular whether the trespasser be 
protected by the boguera or not; and instances have been known when 
they have captured adult men, and disciplined them so severely that they 
bore the scars ever afterward. 

Uncleanly Mode of Eating, 

In their feeding they are not particularly cleanly, turning meat about 
on the fire with their fingers, and then rubbing their hands on their 
bodies, for the sake of the fat which adheres to them. Boiling, however, 
is the usual mode of cooking and when eating it they place a lump of 
meat in the mouth, seize it with the teeth, hold it in the left hand so as 
to stretch it as far as possible, and then with a neat upward stroke of a 
knife or spear-head, cut off the required morsel. This odd mode of eat- 
ing meat may be found among the Abyssinians and the Esquimaux, and 
in each case it is a marvel how the men avoid cutting off their noses. 

The following is a description of one of the milk bags: It is made 
from the skin of some large animal, such as an ox or a zebra, and is 
rather more than two feet in length and one in width. It is formed from 
a tough piece of hide, which is cut to the proper shape and then turned 
over and sewed, the seams being particularly firm and strong. The hide 
of the quagga is said to be the best, as it gives to the milk a peculiar 
flavor, which is admired, by the natives. 

The skin is taken from the back of the animal, that being the strongest 
part. It is first stretched on the ground with wooden pegs, and the hair 
-scraped off with an adze. It is then cut to the proper shape, and 
soaked in water until soft enough to be worked. Even with care, 
these bags are rather perishable articles; and when used for water, 
they do not last so long as when they are employed for milk. 
A rather large opening is left at the top, and a small one at the bottom, 
both of which are closed by conical plugs. ' Through the upper orifice 
the milk is poured into the bag in a fresh state, and removed when 

5 



66 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

coagulated; and through the lower aperture the whey is drawn off as 

v/anted. As is the case with the Kaffir milk baskets, the Bechuana milk 

bags are never cleaned, a small amount of sour milk being always left in 

them, so as to aid in coagulating the milk, which the natives never drink 

in a fresh state. 

Skillful Carving. 

When traveling, the Bechuanas hang their milk bags on the backs of 
oxen ; and it sometimes happens that the jolting of the oxen, and con- 
sequent shaking of the bag, causes the milk to be partially churned, so- 
that small pieces of butter are found floating in it. The butter is very 
highly valued ; but it is not eaten, being reserved for the more important 
office of greasing the hair or skin. 

The spoons which the Bechuanas use are often carved in the most 
elaborate manner. In general shape they resemble those used by the 
Kaffirs — who, by the way, sometimes purchase better articles from the 
Bechuanas— but the under surface of the bowl is entirely covered with, 
designs, which are always effective, and in many cases are absolutely 
artistic from the boldness and simplicity of the designs. Livingstone had 
some spoons, in all of which the surface had first been charred and pol- 
ished, and then the pattern cut rather deeply, so as to leave yellowish- 
white lines in bold contrast with the jetty black of the uncut portion- 
Sometimes it happens that, when they are traveling, and have no spoons 
with them, the Bechuanas rapidly scoop up their broth in the right hand, 
throw it into the palm o:^ the left, and then fling it into the mouth,, 
taking care to lick the hands clean after the operation. 

Music and Dancing-. 

Music is practised by the Bechuana tribes, who do not use the goura, 
but merely employ a kind of reed pipe. The tunes that are played upon 
this instrument are of a severely simple character, being limited to a 
single note, repeated as often as the performer chooses to play it. A 
very good imitation of Bechuanan instrumental music may be obtained 
by taking a penny whistle, and blowing it at intervals. In default of a 
whistle, a key will do quite as well. Vocal music is known better among 
the Bechuanas than among most other tribes — or, at all events, is not 
so utterly opposed to American ideas of the art. The melody is simple 
enough, consisting chiefly of descending and ascending by thirds ; and 
they have a sufficient appreciation of harmony to sing in two parts with- 
out producing the continuous discords which delight the soul of the 
Hottentot tribes. 
■ These reed pipes, called "lichaka," are of various lengths, and are 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 67 

blown exactly like Pandean pipes, that is, transversely across the orifice, 
which is cut with a slight slope. Each individual has one pipe only, and, 
as above stated, can only play one note. But the Bechuanas have enough 
musical ear to tune their pipes to any required note, which they do by 
pushing or withdrawing a movable plug which closes the reed at the 
lower end. 

When a number of men assemble for the purpose of singing and danc- 
ing, they tune their pipes beforehand, taking great pains in getting the 
precise note which they want, and being as careful about it as if they be- 
longed to an American orchestra. The general effect of these pipes, 
played together, and with certain intervals, is by no means inharmonious, 
and has been rather happily compared to the sound of sleigh or wagon 
bells. The correct method of holding the pipe is to place the thumb 
against the cheek, and the forefinger over the upper lip, while the other 
three fingers hold the instrument firmly in its place. These little instru- 
ments run through a scale of some eleven or twelve notes. 

Graceful Movements. 

The dances of the Bechuanas are somewhat similar to those of the 
Amakosa and other Kaffirs ; but they have the peculiarity of using a 
rather rem^arkable headdress when they are in full ceremonial costume. 
This is made from porcupine quills arranged in a bold and artistic man- 
ner, so as to form a kind of coronet. None of the stiff and short quills 
of the porcupine are used for this purpose, but only the long and slender 
quills which adorn the neck of the animal, and, in consequence of their 
great proportionate length, bend over the back in graceful curves. 
These headdresses are worn by the men, who move themselves about so 
as to cause the pliant quills to wave backward and forward, and so con- 
trive to produce a really graceful effect. The headdress is not considered 
an essential part of the dance, but is used on special occasions. 

When dancing, they arrange themselves in a ring, all looking inward, 
but without troubling themselves about their number or any particular 
arrangement. The size of the ring depends entirely upon the number of 
dancers, as they press closely together. Each is at liberty to use any step 
which he may think proper to invent, and to blow his reed pipe at any 
intervals that may seem most agreeable to him. But each man contrives 
to move very slowly in a slanting direction, so that the whole ring re- 
volves on the same spot, making, on an average, one revolution per 
minute. 

The direction in which it moves seems perfectly indifferent, as at one 
time it will revolve from right to left, and then, without any apparent rea- 



68 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

son, the motion is reversed. Dancers enter and leave the ring just as 
they feel inclined, some of the elders only taking part in the dance for a 
few minutes, and others dancing for hours in succession, merely retiring 
occasionally to rest their wearied limbs. The dancers scarcely speak at 
all when engaged in this absorbing amusement, though they accompany 
their reed whistles with native songs. Round the dancers is an external 
ring of women and girls, who follow them as they revolve, and keep time 
to their movements by clapping their hands. 

Substitute for Handkercliief. 

As is usual in this country, a vast amount of exertion is used in the 
dance, and, as a necessary consequence, the dancers are bathed in per- 
spiration, and further inconvenienced by the melting of the grease with 
which their heads and bodies are thickly covered. A handkerchief would 
be the natural resort of an American under such circumstances; but the 
native of Southern Africa does not possess such an article, and therefore 
is obliged to make use of an implement which seems rather ill adapted 
for its purpose. It is made from the bushy tail of jackals, and is prepared 
as follows: The tails are removed from the animals, and, while they are 
yet fresh, the skin is stripped from the bones, leaving a hollow tube of 
fur-clad skin. Three or four of these tails are thus prepared, and through 
them is thrust a stick, generally about four feet in length, so that .the tail 
forms a sort of long and very soft brush. 

This is used as a handkerchief, not only by the Bechuanas, but by many 
of the neighboring tribes, aiid is thought a necessary part of a Bechuana's 
wardrobe. The stick on which they are fixed is cut from the very heart 
of the kameel-dorn acacia, where the wood is peculiarly hard and black, 
and a very great amount of labor is expended on its manufacture. A 
chief will sometimes have a far more valuable implement, which he uses 
for the same purpose. Instead of being made of mere jackal tails, it is 
formed from ostrich feathers. 

The remarkable excellence of the Bechuanas in the arts of peace should 
be noticed. They are not only the best fur-dressers and metal-workers, 
but they are pre-eminent among all the tribes of that portion of Africa in 
their architecture. Not being a nomad people, and being attached to the 
soil, they have no idea of contenting themselves with the mat-covered 
cages of the Hottentots, or with the simple wattle-and-daub huts of the 
Kaffirs. They do not merely build huts, but erect houses, and display 
an ingenuity in their construction that is perfectly astonishing. Whence 
they derived their architectural knowledge, no one knows. Why the 
Kaffirs, who are also men of the soil, should not have learned from their 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 



69 



neighbors how to build better houses, no one can tell. The fact remains, 
that the Bechuana is simply supreme in architecture, and there is no 
neighboring tribe that is even worthy to be ranked in the second class. 




CURIOUS HOUSES BUILT BY WHITE ANTS. 

The house of Dingan, the great Kaffir despot, was exactly like that of 
any of his subjects, only larger, and the supporting posts covered with 
beads. Now a Bechuana of very moderate rank would be ashamed of 



70 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

such an edifice by way of a residence ; and even the poor — ^if we may use 
the word — can build houses for themselves quite as good as that of 
Dingan. Instead of being round-topped, as is the case with the Kaffir 
huts, the houses of the Bechuanas are conical, and the shape may be 
roughly defined by saying that a Bechuana's hut looks something like a 
huge whipping-top with its point upward. It resembles the curious houses 
built by that marvellous insect, the white ant, itself one of the wonders 
of the Tropics. 

A man of moderate rank makes his house in the following manner — 
or, rather, orders his wives to build it for him, the women being the only 
architects. First, a number of posts are cut from the kameel-dorn acacia- 
tree, their length varying according to the office which they have to fulfil. 
Supposing, for example, that the house had to be sixteen or twenty feet 
in diameter, some ten or twelve posts are needed, which will be about 
nine feet in height when planted in the ground. These are placed in a 
circle and firmly fixed at tolerably equal distances. Next comes a smaller 
circle of much smaller posts, which, when fixed in the ground, measure, 
from fifteen to eighteen feet in height, one of them being longer than the 
rest. Both the circles of posts are connected with beams which are 
fastened to their tops. 

The next process is to lay a sufficient quantity of rafters on these posts, 
so that they all meet at one point, and these are tightly lashed together. 
This point is seldom in the exact centre, so that the hut always looks 
rather lop-sided. A roof made of reeds is then placed upon the rafters, 
and the skeleton of the house is complete. The thatch is held in its 
place by a number of long and thin twigs, which are bent, and the end 
thrust into the thatch. These twigs are set in parallel rows, and hold the 
thatch firmly together. The slope of the roof is rather slight, and is 
always that of a depressed cone, but it is sufficient to carry off the water 
and keep the interior dry. 

Singular Walls for Houses. 

Now come the walls. The posts which form the outer circle are con- 
nected with a wall sometimes about six feet high, but frequently only two 
feet or so. But the wall which connects the inner circle is eight or ten 
feet in height, and sometimes reaches nearly to the roof of the house. 
These walls are generally made of the mimosa thorns, which are so inge- 
niously woven that the garments of those who pass by are in no danger, 
while they effectually prevent even the smallest animal from creeping 
through. The inside of the wall is strengthened as well as smoothed by 
a thick coating of clay. The family live in the central compartment of 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 71 

the house, while the servants inhabit the other portion, which also serves 
as a verandah in which the family can sit in the daytime, and enjoy the 
double benefit of fresh air and shade. 

Around this house is a tolerably high paling, made in a similar fashion 
of posts and thorns, and within this enclosure the cattle are kept, when 
their owner is rich enough to build an enclosure for their especial use. 
This fence, or wall, as it may properly be called, is always very firmly 
built, and sometimes is of very strong construction. It is on an average 
six feet high, and is about two feet and a half wide at the bottom, and a 
foot or less at the top. It is made almost entirely of small twigs and 
branches, placed upright, and nearly parallel with each other, but so 
iirmly interlaced that they form an admirable defence against the assagai, 
while near the bottorn the wall is so strong as to stop an ordinary bullet. 
A few inches from the top the wall is strengthened by a double band 
of twigs, one band being outside, and the other in the interior. 
Protection Ag-ainst Fire. 

The doorways of a Buchuana hut are rather curiously constructed. 
An aperture is made in the wall, larger above than below, so as to suit 
the shape of a human being, whose shoulders are wider than his feet. 
This formation serves two purposes. In the first place it lessens the size 
of the aperture, and so diminishes the amount of the draught, and, in the 
next place, it forms a better defence against an adversary than if it were 
of larger size, and reaching to the ground. 

The fireplace is situated outside the hut, though within the fence, the 
13echuanas having a very wholesome dread of fire, and being naturally 
anxious that their elaborately built houses should not be burnt down. 
Outside the house, but within the enclosure, is the corn-house. This is a 
smaller hut, constructed in much the same manner as the dwelling-house, 
and containing the supply of corn. This is kept in jars, one of which is 
of prodigious size, and would quite throw into the shade the celebrated 
oil jars in which the " Forty Thieves " hid themselves. There is also a 
separate house in which the servants sleep. 

This corn jar is made of twigs plaited and woven into form, and 
■strengthened by sticks thrust into the ground, so that it is irremovable, 
even if its huge dimensions did not answer that purpose. The jar is 
plastered both on the outside and the interior with clay, so that it forms 
an admirable protection for the corn. These jars are sometimes six feet 
in height and three in width, and their shape almost exactly resembles 
that of the oil jars of Europe, The best specimens are raised six or seven 
inches from the ground, the stakes which form their scaffolding answer- 



7-2 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ing the purpose of legs. Every house has one such jar; and in the 
abode of wealthy persons there is generally one large jar and a number 
of smaller ones, all packed. 

Curious Burial Customs. 

The burial of the dead is conducted after a rather curious manner. 
The funeral ceremonies actually begin before the sick person is dead^ 
and must have the effect of hastening dissolution. As soon as the rela- 
tions of the sick man see that his end is near, they throw over him a 
mat, or sometimes a skin, and draw it together until the enclosed indi- 
vidual is forced into a sitting, or rather a crouching posture, with the 
arms bent, the head bowed, and the knees brought into contact with the 
chin. In this uncomfortable position the last spark of life soon expires, 
and the actual funeral begins. 

The relatives dig a grave, generally within the cattle fence, not shaped 
as is the case in our own country, but a mere round hole, about three 
feet in diameter. The interior of this strangely shaped grave is then 
rubbed with a bulbous root. An opening is then made in the fence 
surrounding the house, and the body is carried through it, still enveloped 
in the mat, and with a skin thrown over the head. It is then lowered 
into the grave, and great pains are taken to place it exactly facing the 
north, an operation which* consumes much time, but which is achieved at 
last with tolerable accuracy. 

When they have settled this point to their satisfaction, they bring 
fragments of an anthill, wigch is the best and finest clay that can be pro- 
duced, and lay it carefully about the feet of the corpse, over which it is 
pressed by two men who stand in the grave for that purpose. More and 
more clay is handed down in wooden bowls, and stamped firmly down, 
the operators raising the mat in proportion as the earth rises. They take 
particular care that not even the smallest pebble shall mix with the earth 
that surrounds the body, and, as the clay is quite free from stones, it is 
the fittest material for their purpose. 

How Cliiefs are Buried. 

As soon as the earth reaches the mouth, a branch of acacia is placed 
in the grave, and some roots of grass laid on the head, so that part of the 
grass projects above the level of the ground. The excavated soil is then 
scooped up so as to make a small mound, over which is poured several 
bowlfuls of water, the spectators meanwhile shouting out, " Pula ! Pula ! " 
as they do when applauding a speaker in parliament. The weapons and 
implements of the deceased are then brought to the grave, and presented 
to him, but they are not left there, as is the case with some tribes. The 




(73) 



74 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ceremony ends by the whole party leaving the ground, amid the lamenta- 
tions of the women, who keep up a continual wailing cry. 

These are the full ceremonials that take place at the death of a chief — 
at all events, a man of some importance, but they vary much according 
to the rank of the individual. Sometimes a rain-maker has forbidden all 
sepulchral rites whatever, as interfering with the production of rain, and 
during the time of this interdict every corpse is dragged into the bush to 
be consumed by the hyaenas. Even the very touch of a dead body is for- 
bidden, and, under this strange tyranny, a son has been seen to fling a 
leathern rope round the leg of his dead mother, drag her body into the bush, 
and there leave it, throwing down the rope and abandoning it, because it 
had been defiled by the contact of a dead body, and he might happen to 
touch the part that had touched the corpse. 

Almost every African tribe has burial customs peculiar to itself Some 
of the most remarkable of these are met with among the Latookas : 

Funeral ceremonies differ among the Latookas according to the mode 
of death. If a man is killed in battle, the body is not touched, but is 
allowed to remain on the spot where it fell, to be eaten by the hyaenas 
and the vultures. But should a Latooka, whether man, woman or child, 
die a natural death, the body is disposed of in a rather singular manner. 
Immediately after death, a shallow grave is dug in the enclosure that sur- 
rounds each house, and within a few feet of the door. It is allowed to re- 
main here for several weeks, when decomposition is usually completed. 
It is then dug up, the bon^s are cleaned and washed, and are then placed 
in an earthenware jar, and carried about a quarter of a mile outside the 
village. 

Horrible Treatment of Human Kemains. 

No particular sanctity attaches itself either to the bones or the spot on 
which they are deposited. The earthen jars are broken in course of time 
and the bones scattered about, but no one takes any notice of them. In 
consequence of this custom the neighborhood of a large town presents a 
most singular arid rather dismal aspect, the ground being covered with 
bones, skulls, and earthenware jars in various states of preservation ; and, 
indeed, the traveler always knows when he is approaching a Latooka 
town by coming across a quantity of neglected human remains. 

The Latookas have not the least idea why they treat their dead in this 
singular manner, nor why they make so strange a distinction between the 
bodies of warriors who have died the death of the brave and those who 
liave simply died from disease, accident, or decay. Perhaps there is no 
other country where the body of the dead warrior is left to the beasts 



LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 



75 



and birds, while those who die natural deaths are so elaborately buried, 
exhumed, and placed in the public cemetery. Why they do so they do 
not seem either to know or to care, and, as far as has been ascertained, 
this is one of the many customs which has survived long after those who 
practise it have forgotten its signification. 

During the three or four weeks that elapse between the interment and 
exhumation of the body funeral dances are performed. Great numbers 
of both sexes take part in these dances, for which they decorate them- 




COMMORO RUNNING TO THE FIGHT. 

selves in a very singular manner. Their hair helmets are supplemented 
by great plumes of ostrich feathers, each man wearing as many as 
he can manage to fasten on his head, and skins of the leopard or 
monkey are hung from their shoulders. The chief adornment, how- 
ever, is a large iron bell, which is fastened to the small of the back, 
and which is sounded by wriggling the body after a very ludicrous 
fashion. 

A large crowd got up in this style created an indescribable hubbub 



76 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

heightened by the blowing of horns and the beating of seven nogaras of 
various notes. Every dancer wore an antelope's horn suspended round 
the neck, which he blew occasionally in the height of his excitement. 
These instruments produced a sound partaking of the braying of a don- 
key and the screech of an owl. Crowds of men rushed round and round, 
brandishing their arms and iron-headed maces, and keeping tolerably in 
line five or six deep, following the leader, who headed them, dancing 
backward. 

The women kept outside the hne, dancing a slow, stupid step, while a 
long string of young girls and small children, their heads and necks rub- 
bed with red ochre and grease, and prettily ornamented with strings of 
beads round their loins, keep a very good line, beating time with their 
feet, and jingling the numerous iron rings which adorned their ankles to 
keep time to the drums. 

One woman attended upon the men, running through the crowd with 
a gourdful of wood-ashes, handfuls of which she showered over their 
heads, powdering them like millers : the object of the operation no one 
could understand. The premiere danseuse was immensely fat ; she had 
passed the bloom of youth, but despite her unwieldy state, she kept up 
the pace to the last, quite unconscious of her general appearance, and ab- 
sorbed with the excitement of the dance. 

These strange dances form a part of every funeral, and so, when sev- 
eral persons have died successively, the funeral dances go on for several 
months together. The chief Commoro was remarkable for his agility in 
the funeral dances, and took his part in every such ceremony, no matter 
whether it were lor a wealthy or a poor man, every one who dies being 
equally entitled to the funeral dance without any distinction of rank or 
wealth. 

The bells which are so often mentioned in those tribes inhabiting: 
Central Africa are mostly made on one principle, though not on precisely 
the same pattern. These simple bells evidently derive their origin from 
the shells of certain nuts, or other hard fruits, which, when suspended,, 
and a wooden clapper hung within them, can produce a sound of some 
resonance. 

The next advance is evidently the carving the bell out of some hard 
wood, so as to increase its size and add to the power of its sound. 
Next the superior resonance of iron became apparent, and little bells 
were made, shaped exactly like the before-mentioned nuts. This point 
once obtained, the variety in the shape of the bells is evidently a mere 
matter of caprice on the part of the maker. 



CHAPTER IV. 
A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 

Livingstone's Great Interest in the Makololo Tribe — The Fate of Ancient Nations — 
Extraordinary Changes in Southern Africa — Obscure Origin of the Hottentots- 
Displaced by the More Powerful Kaffirs — The Great Chief of the Makololo— 
Severe Punishment for Cowards — A Royal Young Snob — Fear of the Ferocious 
Lion — Headlong Charge of the Buffalo upon Hunters — Livingstone's Story of 
His Wagon — A Race in Eating — Frightful Battle with Hippopotami — Frail Boat 
Surrounded by Ugly Brutes — Superior Makololo Women — Mode of Building 
Houses — Strong Walls and Thatched Roofs — Strange Ideas of a Boatman — 
Offenders Flung to Crocodiles — Dividing the Spoils of Hunting — Sports of 
African Children — A Queen's Opinion of White People — Better Looking than 
she Imagined — A Grotesque and Exciting Dance. 

elVINGSTONE also took great interest in another tribe, the famous 
Makololo, some account of which will prove instructive and 
entertaining. 

In the whole of Africa south of the equator, we find the great 
events of the civilized world repeated on a smaller scale. Civilized history 
speaks of the origin and rise of nations, and the decadence and fall of 
-empires. During a course of many centuries, dynasties have arisen and 
held their sway for generations, fading away by degrees before the influx 
•of mightier races. The kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, 
Rome, Persia, and the like, have lasted from generation after generation, 
and some of them still exist, though with diminished powers. The 
Pharaohs have passed from the face of the earth, and their metropolis is 
a desert; but Athens and Rome still retain some traces of their vanished 
glories. 

In Southern Africa, however, the changes that take place, though 
precisely similar in principle, are on a much smaller scale, both of mag- 
nitude and duration, and a traveller who passes a few years in the 
country may see four or five changes of dynasty in that brief period. 
Within the space of an ordinary life-time, for example, the fiery genius 
of Tchaka gathered a number of scattered tribes into a nation, and created 
a dynasty, which, when deprived of its leading spirit, fell into decline, 
and has yearly tended to return to the original elements of which it was 
■composed. 

Then the Hottentots have come from some unknown country, and 

(77) 



78 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

dispossessed the aborigines of the Cape so completely that no one knows 
what those aborigines were. In the case of islands, such as the Poly- 
nesian group, or even the vast island of Australia, we know what the 
aborigines must have been ; but we have no such knowledge with regard 
to Southern Africa, and in consequence the extent of our knowledge is, 
that the aborigines, whoever they might have been, Avere certainly not 
Hottentots. Then the Kaffirs swept down and ejected the Hottentots,, 
and the Dutch and other white colonists ejected the Kaffirs. 

So it has been with the tribe of the Makololo, which, though thinly 
scattered, and by no means condensed, has contrived to possess a large 
portion of Southern Africa. Deriving their primary origin from a branch 
of the great Bechuana tribe, and therefore retaining many of the customs 
of that tribe together with its skill in manufactures, they were able to 
extend themselves far from their original home, and by degrees contrived 
to gain the dominion over the greater part of the surrounding, country. 
Yet in 1861, when Dr. Livingstone passed through the country of the 
Makololo, he saw symptoms of its decadence. 

Cow^ards Put To Deatli. 

They had been organized by a great and wise chief named Sebituane,. 
who carried out to the fullest extent the old Roman principle of mercy 
to the submissive, and war to the proud. Sebituane owed much of his 
success to his practice of leading his troops to battle in person. When 
he came within sight of the enemy, he significantly felt the edge of 
his battle-axe and said, ' wAha ! it is sharp, and whoever turns his 
back on the enemy will feel its edge." Being remarkably fleet of foot,, 
none of his soldiers could escape from him, and they found that it was 
far safer to fling themselves on the enemy with the chance of repelling" 
him, than run away with the certainty of being cut down by the chief's 
battle-axe. 

Sometimes a cowardly soldier skulked, or hid himself Sebituane,. 
however, was not to be deceived, and, after allowing him to return home, 
he would send for the delinquent, and^ after mockingly assuming that 
death at home was preferable to death on the field of battle, would order 
him to instant execution. 

He incorporated the conquered tribes with his own Makololo, saying 
that, when they submitted to his rule, they were all children of the chief, 
and therefore equal ; and he proved his words by admitting them to par- 
ticipate in the highest honors, and causing them to intermarry with his 
own tribe. Under him was an organized system of head chiefs, and 
petty chiefs and elders, through whom Sebituane knew all the affairs of 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 7^ 

his kingdom, and guided it well and wisely. But, when he died, the 
band tJiat held together this nation was loosened, and bid fair to give 
way altogether. His son and successor, Sekeletu, was incapable of 
following the example of his father. He allowed the prejudices of race 
to be again developed, and fostered them himself by studiously excluding 
all women except the Makololo from his harem, and appointing none but 
Makololo men to office. 

A Wortliless Ruler. 

Consequently, he became exceedingly unpopular among those very 
tribes whom his father had succeeded in conciliating, and, as a natural 
result, his chiefs and elders being all Makololo men, they could not 
enjoy the confidence of the incorporated tribes, and thus the harmonious 
system of Sebituane was broken up. Without confidence in their rulers, 
a people cannot retain their position as a great nation ; and Sekeletu, in 
forfeiting that confidence, sapped with his own hands the foundation of 
his throne. Discontent began to show itself, and his people drew 
unfavorable contrasts between his rule and that of his father, some even, 
doubting whether so weak and purposeless a man could really be the son. 
of their lamented chief, the " Great Lion," as they called him. " In his 
days," said they, " we had great chiefs, and little chiefs, and elders, to 
carry on the government, and the great chief, Sebituane, knew them all, 
and the whole country was wisely ruled. But now Sekeletu knows noth- 
ing, and the Makololo power is fast passing away." 

Then Sekeletu fell ill of a horrible and disfiguring disease, shut him- 
self up in his house, and would not show himself; allowing no one to 
come near him but one favorite, through whom his orders were 
transmitted to the people. But the nation got tired of being ruled by 
deputy, and consequently a number of conspiracies were organized^ 
which never could have been done under the all-pervading rule of Seb- 
ituane, and several of the greater chiefs boldly set their king at defiance. 
As long as Sekeletu lived, the kingdom retained a nominal, though not 
a real existence, but within a year after his death, which occured in 1864, 
civil wars sprang up on every side ; the kingdom thus divided was 
weakened, and unable to resist the incursions of surrounding tribes, and 
thus, within the space of a very few years, the great Makololo empire 
fell to pieces. 

According to Dr. Livingstone, this event was much to be regretted, 
considering the character of its people. 

Mr. Baines, who knew both the father and the son, has the very 
meanest opinion of the latter, and the highest of the former. In his 



80 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

notes, which show a man of very keen discernment, he briefly character- 
izes them as follows : — " Sebituane, a polished, merciful man. Sekeletu, his 
successor, a fast young snob, with no judgment. Killed off his father's 
councillors, and did as he liked. Helped the missionaries to die rather 




WILD CHARGE OF A BUFFALO UPON HUNTERS. 

than to live, even if he did not intentionally poison them — then plundered 
their provision stores." 

The true Makololo are a fine race of men, and are lighter in color than 
the surrounding tribes, being of a rich warm brown, rather than black, 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 81 

and they are rather peculiar in their intonation, pronouncing each sylla- 
ble slowly and deliberately. 

The general character of this people seems to be a high one, and in 
many respects will bear comparison with the Ovambo. Brave they have 
proved themselves by their many victories, though it is rather remarkable 
that they do not display the same courage when opposed to the lion as 
when engaged in warfare against their fellow-men. Yet they are not 
without courage and presence of mind in the hunting-field, though the 
dread king of beasts seems to exercise such an influence over them that 
they fear to resist his inroads. 

The buffalo is really quite as much to be dreaded as the lion, and yet 
the Makololo are comparatively indifferent when pursuing it. The 
animal has an unpleasant habit of doubling back on its trail, crouching 
in the bush, allowing the hunters to pass its hiding-place, and then to 
charge suddenly at them with such a force and fury that it scatters the 
hunters before its headlong rush like autumn leaves before the wind. 

Hospitality is one of their chief virtues, and it is exercised with a 
modesty which is rather remarkable. " The people of every village," 
writes Livingstone, " treated us most liberally, presenting, besides oxen, 
butter, milk, and meal, more than we could stow away in our canoes. 
The cows in this valley are now yielding, as they frequently do, more 
milk than the people can use, and both men and women present butter 
in such quantities, that I shall be able to refresh my men as we go along. 
Anointing the skin prevents the excessive evaporation of the fluids of 
the body, and acts as clothing in both sun and shade. 
Famous Story of the Wag-on. 

" They always made their presents gracefully. When an ox was given, 
the owner would say, ' Here is a little bit of bread for you.' This was 
pleasing, for I had been accustomed to the Bechuanas presenting a 
miserable goat, with the pompous exclamation, ' Behold an ox ! ' The 
women persisted in giving me copious supplies of shrill praises, or 'lulli- 
looing,' but although I frequently told them to modify their * Great 
Lords,' and * Great Lions,' to more humble expressions, they so evidently 
intended to do me honor, that I could not help being pleased with the 
poor creatures' wishes for our success." 

One remarkable instance of the honesty of this tribe is afforded by 
Dr. Livingstone. In 1853, he had left at Linyanti, a place on the Zam- 
besi River, a wagon containing papers and stores. He had been away 
from Linyanti, to which place he found that letters and packages had 
been sent for him. Accordingly, in i860, he determined on revisiting 

6 



82 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the spot, and, when he arrived there, found that everything in the wagon 
was exactly in the same state as when he left it in charge of the king 
seven years before. The head men of the place were very glad to see 
him back again, and only lamented that he had not arrived in the 
previous year, which happened to be one of special plenty. 

This honesty is the more remarkable, because they had good reason 
to fear the attacks of the Matabele, who, if they had heard that a wagon 
with property in it was kept in the place, would have attacked Linyanti 
at once, in spite of its strong position amid rivers and marshes. How- 
ever, the Makololo men agreed that in that case they were to fight in 
defence of the wagon, and that the first man who wounded a Matabele 
in defence of the wagon was to receive cattle as a reward. It is prob- 
able, however, that the great personal influence which Dr. Livingstone 
exercised over the king and his tribe had much to do with the behavior 
of these Makololo, and that a man of less capacity and experience would 
have been robbed of everything that could be stolen. 
How Strangers are Received. 

When natives travel, especially if they should be headed by a chief, 
various ceremonies take place, the women being intrusted with the task 
of welcoming the visitors. This they do by means of a shrill, prolonged, 
undulating cry, produced by a rapid agitation of the tongue, and 
expressively called " lullilooing." The men follow their example, and it 
is etiquette for the chief to receive all these salutations with perfect 
indifference. As soon as' the new comers are seated, a conversation 
takes place, in which the two parties exchange news, and then the head 
man rises and brings out a quantity of beer in large pots. Calabash 
goblets are handed round, and every one makes it a point of honor to 
drink as fast as he can, the fragile goblets being often broken in this 
convivial rivalry. 

Besides the beer, jars of clotted milk are produced in. plenty, and each 
of the jars is given to the principal men, who are at liberty to divide it 
as they choose. Although originally sprung from the Bechuanas, the 
Makololo disdain the use of spoons, preferring to scoop up the milk in 
their hands, and, if a spoon be given to them, they merely ladle out 
some milk from the jar, put it into their hands, and so eat it. A chief is 
expected to give several feasts of meat to his followers. He chooses an 
ox, and hands it over to some favored individual, who proceeds to kill it 
by piercing its heart with a slender spear. The wound is carefully 
closed, so that the animal bleeds internally, the whole of the blood, as 
well as the viscera, forming the perquisite of the butcher 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 83 

Scarcely is the ox dead than it is cut up, the best parts, namely, the 
hump and ribs, belonging to the chief, who also apportions the different 
parts of the slain animal among his guests, just as Joseph did with his 
brethren, each of the honored guests subdividing his own portion among 
his immediate followers. The process of cooking is simple enough, the 
meat being merely cut into strips and thrown on the fire, often in such 
quantities that it is nearly extinguished. Before it is half cooked, it is 
taken from the embers, and eaten while so hot that none but a practised 
meat-eater could endure it, the chief object being to introduce as much 
meat as possible into the stomach in a given time. 

It is not manners to eat after a man's companions have finished their 
meal, and so each guest eats as much and as fast as he can, and acts 
as if he had studied in the school of Sir Dugal Dalgetty. Neither is it 
manners for any one to take a solitary meal, and, knowing this custom, 
Dr. Livingstone always contrived to have a second cup of tea or coffee 
by his side whenever he took his meals, so that the chief, or one of the 
principal men, might join in the repast. 

Among the Makololo, rank has its drawbacks as well as its privileges, 
and among the former may be reckoned one of the customs which regu- 
late meals. A chief may not dine alone, and it is also necessaiy that at 
each meal the whole of the provisions should be consumed. If Sekeletu 
had an ox killed, every particle of it was consumed at a single meal, and 
in consequence he often suffered severely from hunger before another 
•could be prepared for him and his followers. So completely is this cus- 
tom ingrained in the nature of the Makololo, that, when Dr. Livingstone 
visited Sekeletu, the latter was quite scandalized that a portion of the 
meal was put aside. However, he soon saw the advantage of the plan, 
and after awhile followed it himself, in spite of the remonstrances of the 
old men ; and, while the missionary was with him, they played into each 
other's hands by each reserving a portion for the other at every meal. 
Great Skill in Using- Canoes. 

As the Makololo live much on the banks of the river Zambesi, they 
naturally use the canoe, and are skilful in its management. These canoes 
are flat-bottomed, in order to enable them to pass over the numerous 
shallows of the Zambesi, and are sometimes forty feet in length, carrying 
from six to ten paddlers, besides other freight. The paddles are about 
■eight feet in length, and, when the canoe gets into shallow water, the pad- 
dles are used as punt-poles. The paddlers stand while at work, and keep 
time as if they were engaged in a University boat race, so that they pro- 
pel the vessel with considerable speed. 




< 
if- 
o 

o 



H 

< 

03, 






A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. ^5 

Being flat-bottomed, the boats need very skilful management, especi- 
ally in so rapid and variable a river as the Zambesi, where sluggish 
<iepths, rock-beset shallows, and swift rapids, follow each other repeat- 
-edly. If the canoe should happen to come broadside to the current, it 
would inevitably be upset, and as the Makololo are not all swimmers, 
::several of the crew would probably be drowned. As soon, therefore, as 
such a danger seems to be pending, those who can swim jump into the 
water and guide the canoe through the sunken rocks and dangerous ed- 
dies. Skill in the management of the canoe is especially needed in the 
chase of the hippopotamus, which they contrive to hunt in their own 
-element, and which they seldom fail in securing, in spite of the enormous 
.-size, the furious anger, and the formidable jaws of this remarkable animal. 
Terrible Encounter witli the River-Horse. 
The dangers of travel are seen from the following account given by a 
traveller while making a trip up the Nile : 

' It was on this trip that I had a narrow escape from falling into the 
jaws of "the river-horse," — hippopotamus, one of the largest of mammals. 
This animal can never have been very common on the lower part of the 
river, for you do not see his easily recognized figure among the hiero- 
glyphics with which the temples are filled, between the Delta and the 
first cataract. Nor does Roman history often mention them in the games 
or triumphs of the emperors, which is singular, when tigers, lions and 
-elephants figure so often. But farther up" the river you meet him still, 
usually swimming very low in the water, with simply his nose, eyes and 
ears above its surface, and followed by his mate, — for they travel usually 
in couples. But on the day to which I refer, this number was increased 
to three — and huge specimens they were — sunning themselves on the 
left bank of the river, and on the back of the female rested a young one, 
■uglier, if possible, than its fond parents. 

We were six of us, only one a native, rowing along the shore in a skiff; 
.and one of my companions, a Frenchman, with the careless thoughtless- 
ness of his race, raised his rifle and let drive at the youngster. There 
was a tremendous splashing and racket, and the water for yards was 
stirred up by the four mighty bodies diving into it simultaneously. A 
cry of warning came from our guide, who began jabbering away in his 
own lingo at a great rate. 

"What's the beggar raising all this row about?" asked the Frenchman. 
"Pull for your life!" shouted I. "You'll have the whole party round 
ais in a minute." 

The boat was a poor one for speed, and we were still a long way from 



86 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



the nearest point of land when the snouts of the hippopotomi came to the 
surface within pistol-shot of the stern. In a moment they were around 
us, threatening to crush the thwarts of our craft and make two mouthful* 
of the whole party. 

We dropped our oars — for flight was out of the question — and seized 
our guns. Placing my barrel almost against the eye of the largest, t 



5»\- 




, ~ • 3Ji*^f 




DRIVING CROCODILES INTO THE WATER. 

emptied both barrels into his head, and he sank without a gurgle into 
the muddy water. Meanwhile the other end of the boat had been less 
fortunate. The remaining male had fastened his massive jaws in the 
gunwale and was crunching it like paper, while the Frenchman, the cause 
of all the danger, was ineffectually belaboring his head with an oar, his 
empty gun being, of course, useless. 

Luckily for us, one of the party had a loaded rifle and some presence 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 87 

of mind left, and to these hippopotamus number two reluctantly yielded, 
and went to join his friend at the bqttom of the muddy river. It is 
really curious how easily and quickly so huge an animal will die under 
modern weapons, when you remember what difficulty the ancients expe- 
rienced in killing large game, and how an entire army was needed to cope 
with an elephant or hippopotamus. 

But to return to our still rather unpleasant predicament: before 
the female could reach us, we were all reloaded and ready for her. 
She seemed to realize this, for, without waiting for our cordial reception, 
she turned tail and made for the other shore, leaving a wake behind her 
like a harbor steamboat. Reaching a long tongue of land near the far- 
ther bank, she waded through the shallows and across it, disturbing the 
crocodiles sunning thereon, and driving them into the water beyond, into 
which she followed them and was lost to our sight. And not one of the 
party seemed to care ! 

Singular Habits of the Makololo. 

The dress of the men differs but little from that which is in use in other 
parts of Africa south of the equator, and consists chiefly of a skin 
twisted round the loins, and a mantle of the same material thrown over 
the shoulders, the latter being only worn in cold weather. The Makololo 
are a cleanly race, particularly when they happen to be in the neighbor- 
hood of a river or lake, in which they bathe several times daily. The 
men, however, are better in this respect than the women, who seem 
rather to be afraid of cold water, preferring to rub their bodies with 
melted butter, which has the effect of making their skins glossy, and 
keeping off parasites, but also imparting a peculiarly unpleasant odor to 
themselves and their clothing. 

As to the women, they are clothed in a far better manner than the men, 
and are exceedingly fond of ornaments, wearing a skin kilt or kaross, 
and adorning themselves with as many ornaments as they can afford. 
The traveller who has already been quoted mentions that a sister of the 
great chief Sebituane wore enough ornaments to be a load for an ordi- 
nary man. On each leg she had eighteen rings of solid brass, as thick 
as a man's finger, and three of copper under each knee ; nineteen similar 
rings on her right arm, and eight of brass and copper on her left. She 
had also a large ivory ring above each elbow, a broad band of beads 
round her waist, and another round her neck, being altogether nearly one 
hundred large and heavy rings. The weight of the rings on her legs 
was so great, that she was obliged to wrap soft rags round the lower 
rings, as they had begun to chafe her ankles. Under this weight of 



88 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

• 

metal she could walk but awkwardly, but fashion proved itself superior 
to pain with this Makololo wom^n, as among her American sisters. 

Both in color and general manners, the Makololo women are superior 
to most of the tribes. This superiority is partly due to the light warm 
brown of their complexion, and partly to their mode of life. Unlike the 
women of ordinary African tribes, those of the Makololo lead a compara- 
tively easy life, having their harder labors shared by their husbands, who 
aid in digging the ground, and in other rough work. Even the domestic 
work is done more by servants than by the mistresses of the household, 
so that the Makololo women are not liable to that rapid deterioration 
which is so evident among other tribes. In fact they have so much time 
to themselves, and so little to occupy them, that they are apt to fall 
into rather dissipated habits, and spend much of their time in smoking 
hemp and drinking beer, the former habit being a most insidious one, and 
apt to cause a peculiar eruptive disease. Sekeletu was a votary of the 
hemp-pipe, and, by his over-indulgence in this luxury, he induced the 
disease of which he afterward died. 

Women Who Build Houses. 

The only hard work that falls to the lot of the Makololo women is 
that of house-building, which is left entirely to them and their servants. 
The mode of making a house is rather remarkable. The first business 
is to build a cylindrical tower of stakes and reeds, plastered with mud, 
and some nine or ten feet in height, the walls and floor being smoothly 
plastered, so as to prevent t^iem from harboring insects. A large conical 
roof is then put together on the ground, and completely thatched with 
reeds. It is then lifted by many hands, and lodged on top of the circular 
tower. As the roof projects far beyond the central tower, it is supported 
by stakes, and, as a general rule, the spaces between these stakes are 
filled up with a wall or fence of reeds plastered with mud. This roof is 
not permanently fixed either to the supporting stakes or the central tower, 
and can be removed at pleasure. When a visitor arrives among the 
Makololo, he is often lodged by the simple process of lifting a finished 
roof off an unfinished house, and putting it on the ground. 

Although it is then so low that a man can scarcely sit, much less 
stand upright, it answers very well for Southern Africa, where the whole 
of active life is spent, as a rule, in the open air, and where houses are only 
used as sleeping-boxes. The doorway that gives admission into the cir- 
cular chamber is always small. 

In a house that was assigned to Dr. Livingstone, it was only nineteen 
inches in total height, twenty-two in width at the floor, and twelve at the 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 



top. A native Makololo, with no particular encumbrance in the way of 
clothes, makes his way through the doorway easily enough ; but an 
American with all the impediments of dress about him finds himself sadly 
hampered in attempting to gain the penetration of a Makololo house. 
Except through this door, the tower has neither light nor ventilation. 
Some of the best houses have two, and even three, of these towers, built 
concentrically within each other, and each having its entrance about as 
large as the door of an ordinary dog-kennel. Of course the atmosphere 
is very close at night, but the people care nothing about that. 




HOUSE-BUILDING IN AFRICA. 

Our illustration is from a sketch furnished by Mr. Baines. It repre- 
sents a nearly completed Makololo house on the banks of the Zambesi 
river, just above the great Victoria Falls. The women have placed the 
roof on the building, and are engaged in the final process of fixing the 
thatch. In the centre is seen the cylindrical tower which forms the inner 
-chamber, together with a portion of the absurdly small door by which it 
is entered. Round it is the inner wall, which is also furnished with its 



90 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

doorway. These are made of stakes and withes, upon which is worked 
a quantity of clay, well patted on by hand, so as to form a thick and 
strong wall. Even the wall which surrounds the building and the whole 
of the floor are made of the same material. 

Walls Within TValls. 

It will be seen that there are four concentric walls in this building. 
First comes the outer wall, which encircles the whole premises. Next is 
a low wall, which is built up against the posts that support the ends of 
the rafters, and which is partly supported by them. Within this is a third 
wall, which encloses what may be called the ordinary living room of the 
house ; and within all is the inner chamber, or tower, which is in fact 
only another circular wall of much less diameter and much greater 
height. It will be seen that the walls of the house increase regularly in 
height, and decrease regularly in diameter, so as to correspond with the 
conical roof 

On the left of the illustration is part of a millet-field, beyond which are 
some completed houses. Among them are some of the fan-palms with 
recurved leaves. That on the left is a young tree, and retains all its 
leaves, while that on the right is an old one, and has shed the leaves to- 
ward the base of the stem, the foliage and the thickened portion of the 
trunk having worked their way gradually upward. More palms are 
growing on the Zambesi River, and in the background are seen the vast 
spray clouds arising from the Falls. 

The comparatively easy Jife led by the Makololo women makes polyg- 
amy less of a hardship to them than is the case among neighboring 
tribes, and, in fact, even if the men were willing to abandon the system,. 
the women would not consent to do so. With them marriage, though it 
never rises to the rank which it holds in civilized countries, is not a mere 
matter of barter. It is true that the husband is expected to pay a cer- 
tain sum to the parents of his bride, as a recompense for her services, 
and as purchase money to retain in his own family the children that she 
may have, and which would by law belong to her father. Then, again,, 
when a wife dies her husband is obliged to send an ox to her family, in 
order to recompense them for their loss, she being still reckoned as form- 
ing part of her parent's family, and her individuality not being totally 
merged into that of her husband. 

African Mormons. 

Plurality of wives is in vogue among the Makololo, and, indeed, an ab- 
solute necessity under the present condition of the race, and the women 
would be quite as unwilling as the men to have a system of monogamy 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE, 91 

imposed upon them. No man is respected by his neighbors who does 
not possess several wives, and, indeed, without them he could not be 
wealthy, each wife tilling a certain quantity of ground, and the produce 
belonging to a common stock. Of course, there are cases where polyg- 
amy is certainly a hardship, as, for example, when old men choose to- 
marry very young wives. But, on the whole, and under existing condi- 
tions, polygamy is the only possible system. 

Another reason for the plurality of wives, as given by themselves, is 
that a man with one wife would not be able to exercise that hospitality 
which is one of the special duties of the tribe. Strangers are taken to 
the huts and there entertained as honored guests, and as the women are 
the principal providers of food, chief cultivators of the soil, and sole 
guardians of the corn stores, their co-operation is absolutely necessary^ 
for anyone who desires to carry out the hospitable institutions of his 
tribe. It has been mentioned that the men often take their share in the 
hard work. This laudable custom, however, prevailed most among the 
true Makololo men, the incorporated tribes preferring to follow the usual 
African custom, and to make the women work while they sit down and 
smoke their pipes. 

The men have become adepts at carving wood, making wooden pots 
with lids, and bowls and jars of all sizes. Moreover, of late years, the 
Makololo have learned to think that sitting on a stool is more comforta- 
ble than squatting on the bare ground, and have, in consequence, begun 
to carve the legs of their stools into various patterns. 
The Boatman's Strange Ideas. 

Like the people from whom they are descended, the Makololo are a 
law-loving race and manage their government by means of councils or 
parliaments, resembling the pichos of the Bechuanas, and consisting of a 
number of individuals assembled in a circle round the chief, who occupies 
the middle. On one occasion, when there was a large halo round the 
sun. Dr. Livingstone pointed it out to his chief boatman. The man im- 
mediately replied that it was a parliament of the Barimo, that is, the gods^ 
or departed spirits, who were assembled round their chief, that is the sun. 

For major crimes a picho is generally held, and the accused, if found 
guilty, is condemned to death. The usual mode of execution is for two^ 
men to grasp the condemned by his wrists, lead him a mile irom the 
town, and then to spear him. Resistance is not offered, neither is the 
criminal allowed to speak. So quiet is the whole proceeding that, on 
one very remarkable occasion, a rival chief was carried off within a few 
yards of Dr. Livingstone without his being aware of the fact. 



92 ^ " WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Shortly after Sebituane's death, while his son Sekeletu was yet a young 
man of eighteen, and but newly raised to the throne, a rival named 
Mpepe, who had been appointed by Sebituane chief of a division of the 
tribe, aspired to the throne. He strengthened his pretensions by super- 
stition, having held for some years a host of incantations, at which a num- 
ber of native wizards assembled, and performed a number of enchantments 
so potent that even the strong-minded Sebituane was afraid of him. After 
the death of that great chief, Mpepe organized a conspiracy whereby he 
should be able to murder Sekeletu and to take his throne. The plot, 
however, was discovered, and on the night of its failure, his executioners 
came quietly to Mpepe's fire, took his wrists, led him out, and speared 
him. 

Flung to tlie Crocodiles, 

Sometimes the offender is taken into the river in a boat, strangled, and 
flung into the water, where the crocodiles are waiting to receive him. 
Disobedience to the chief's command is thought to be quite sufficient 
-cause for such a punishment. For lesser offences fines are inflicted, a par- 
liament not being needed, but the case being heard before the chief 

Dr. Livingstone relates in a very graphic style the manner in which 
these cases are conducted. "The complainant asks the man against 
whom he means to lodge his complaint to come with him to the chief. 
This is never refused. When both are in the kotla, the complainant 
stands up and states the whole case before the chief and people usually 
assembled there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this to 
recollect if he has forgotten anything. The witnesses to whom he has 
referred then rise up and tell all that they themselves have seen or heard, 
but not anything that they have heard from others. The defendant, after 
allowing some minutes to elapse, so that he may not interrupt any of the 
opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak about him, and in the most 
quiet and deliberate way he can assume, yawning, blowing his nose, etc., 
begins to explain the affair, denying the charge or admitting it, as the 
case may be. 

" Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the complainant utters a sen- 
tence of dissent. The accused turns quietly to him and says, ' Be silent, I sat 
while you were speaking. Can not you do the same? Do you want to have 
it all to yourself?' And, as the audience acquiesce in this bantering, and 
enforce silence, he goes on until he has finished all he wishes to say in his 
defence. If he has any witnesses to the truth of the facts of his defence, 
they give their evidence. No oath is administered, but occasionally, 
when a statement is questioned, a man will say, * By my father,' or * By 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 93 

the chief, it is so.' Their truthfulness among each other is quite remark- 
able, but their system of government is such that Americans are not in a 
position to realize it readily. A poor man will say in his defence against 
a rich one, ' I am astonished to hear a man so great as he make a false 
accusation,' as if the offence of falsehood were felt to be one against the 
society which the individual referred to had the greatest interest in up- 
holding," 

When a case is brought before the king by chiefs or other influential 
men, it is expected that the councillors who attend the royal presence 
shall give their opinions, and the permission to do so is inferred whenever 
the king remains silent after having heard both parties. It is a point of 
etiquette that all the speakers stand except the king, who alone has the 
privilege of speaking while seated 

Dividing^ the Spoils. 

There is even a series of game-laws in the country, all ivory belonging 
of right to the king, and every tusk being brought to him. This right 
is, however, only nominal, as the king is expected to share the ivory 
among his people, and if he did not do so, he would not be able to 
enforce the law. In fact, the whole law practically resolves itself into 
this: that the king gets one tusk and the hunters get the other, while 
the flesh belongs to those who kill the animal. And, as the flesh is to 
the people far more valuable than the ivory, the agreement is much fairer 
than appears at first sight. 

Practically it is a system of make-believes. The successful hunters 
kill two elephants, taking four tusks to the king, and make believe to 
offer them for his acceptance. He makes believe to take them as his 
right, and then makes believe to present them with two as a free gift 
from himself. They acknowledge the royal bounty with abundant thanks 
and recapitulation of titles, such as Great Lion, etc., and so all parties 
are equally satisfied. 

Among the Makololo, as well as among Americans, the spirit of play 
is strong in children, and they engage in various games, chiefly consisting 
in childish imitation of the more serious pursuits of their parents. The 
following account of their play is given by Dr. Livingstone: "The chil- 
dren have merry times, especially in the cool of the evening. One of 
their games consists of a little girl being carried on the shoulders of two 
others. She sits with outstretched arms, as they walk about with her, 
and all the rest clap their hands, and stopping before each hut, sing 
pretty airs, some beating time on their little kilts of cow-skin, and others 
making a curious humming sound between the songs. . Excepting this- 



'94 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

.and the skipping^ope, the play of the girls consists in imitation of the 
serious work of their mothers, building little huts, making small pots, 
and cooking, pounding corn in miniature mortars, or hoeing tiny gar- 
dens. 

Sports of African Boys. 

" The boys play with spears of reeds pointed with wood, and small 
shields, or bows and arrows; or amuse themselves in making little cattle- 
pens, or cattle in clay — they show great ingenuity in the imitation of 
variously shaped horns. Some, too, are said to use slings, but, as soon 
as they can watch the goats or calves, they are sent to the field. We saw 
many boys riding on the calves they had in charge, but this is an innova- 
tion since the arrival of the English with their horses. Tselane, one of 
the ladies, on observing me one day noting observations on the wet 
and dry bulb thermometers, thought I too was engaged in play. On 
receiving no reply to her question, which was rather difficult to answer, 
.as their native tongue has no scientific terms, she said with roguish glee, 
''Poor thing! playing like a little child!'" 

Mr. Baines represents a domestic scene in a Makololo family. The 
house belongs to a chief named M'Bopo, who was very friendly to Mr. 
Baines and his companions, and was altogether a fine specimen of a 
savage gentleman. He was exceedingly hospitable to his guests, not 
•only feeding them well, but producing great jars of pombe, or native 
beer, which they were obliged to consume either personally or by 
■deputy. 

M'Bopo's chief wife sits beside him, and is distinguished by the two 
ornaments which she wears. On her forehead is a circular piece of hide, 
kneaded while wet so as to form a shallow cone. The inside of this cone 
is entirely covered with beads, mostly white, and scarlet in the centre. 
Upon her neck is another ornament, which is valued very highly. It is the 
base of a shell, a species of conus — the whole of which has been ground 
away except the base. This ornament is thought so valuable that when 
the great chief Shinte presented Dr. Livingstone with one, he took 
the precaution of coming alone, and carefully closing the tent door, 
so that none of his people should witness an act of such extravagant 
generosity. 

VVHite People Better liooking- tlian Supposed. 

This lady was good enough to express her opinion of the white trav- 
ellers. They were not so ugly, said she, as she had expected. All that 
hair on their heads and faces was certainly disagreeable, but their faces 
were pleasant enough, and their hands were well formed, but the great de- 




(95) 



96 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

feet in them was, that they had no toes. The worthy lady had never heard 
of boots, and evidently considered them as analogous to the hoof of cat- 
tle. It was found necessary to remove the boots, and convince her that 
the white man really had toes. 

The Makololo have plenty of amusements after their own fashion^ 
which is certainly not that of an American. Even those who have lived 
among them for some time, and have acknowledged that they are among 
the most favorable specimens of African heathendom, have been utterly 
disgusted and wearied with the life which they had to lead. There is no 
quiet and no repose day or night, and Dr. Livingstone, who might be ex- 
pected to be thoroughly hardened against annoyance by trifles, states 
broadly that the dancing, singing, roaring, jesting, story-telling, grumb- 
ling, and quarreling of the Makololo were a .'-everer penance than any- 
thing which he had undergone in all his experience. He had to live 
with them, and was therefore brought in close contact with them. 

A Crazy Dance. 

The first three items of savage life, namely, dancing, singing and roar- 
ing, seem to be inseparably united, and the savages seem to be incapable- 
of getting up a dance unless accompanied by roaring on the part of the 
performers, and singing on the. part of the spectators — the latter sounds 
being not more melodious than the former. 

Dr. Livingstone gives a very graphic account of a Makololo dance.. 
"As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this part of his 
dominions, it was to many a season of great joy. The head men of each 
village presented oxen, milk and beer, more than the horde which accom- 
panied him could devour, though their abilities in that way are something' 
wonderful. 

"The people usually show their joy and work off their excitement in 
dances and songs. The dance consists of men standing nearly naked in 
a circle, with clubs or small battle-axes in their hands, and each roaring^ 
at the loudest pitch of his voice, while they simultaneously lift one leg,, 
stamping twice with it, then lift the other and give one stamp with it; 
this is the only movement in common. The arms and head are thrown 
about also in every direction, and all this time the roaring is kept up with 
the utmost possible vigor. The continued stamping makes a cloud of 
dust ascend, and they leave a deep ring in the ground where they have 
stood. 

" If the scene were witnessed in a lunatic asylum, it would be nothing^ 
out of the way, and quite appropriate as a means of letting off the exces- 
>ive excitement of the brain. But here, gray-headed men joined in the 



A CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRIBE. 97 

performance with as much zest as others whose youth might be an excuse 
for making the perspiration start off their bodies with the exertion. 
Motebe asked what I thought of the Makololo dance. I rephed, * It is 
very hard work, and brings but small profit' ' It is,' he replied ; ' but it 
is very nice, and the Sekeletu will give us an ox for dancing for him.' 
He usually does slaughter an ox for the dancers when the work is 
over. 

" The women stand by, clapping their hands, and occasionally one ad- 
vances within the circle, composed of a hundred men, makes a few move- 
ments, and then retires. As I never tried it, and am unable to enter into 
the spirit of the thing, I cannot recommend the Makololo polka to the 
dancing world, but I have the authority of no less a person than Motebe, 
Sekeletu's father-in-law, for saying that it is very nice." 

Many of the Makololo are inveterate smokers, preferring hemp even to 
tobacco, because it is more intoxicating. They delight in smoking them- 
selves into a positive frenzy, which passes away in a rapid stream of un- 
meaning words, or short sentences, as, "The green grass grows," "The 
ifat cattle thrive," " The fishes swim." No one in the group pays the 
slightest attention to the vehement eloquence, or the sage or silly utter- 
ances of the oracle, who stops abruptly, and, the instant common sense 
returns, looks foolish. They smoke the hemp through water, using a 
koodoo horn for their pipe, much in the way that the Damaras and other 
tribes use it. 

Over-indulgence in this luxury has a very prejudicial effect on the 
'health, producing an eruption over the whole body that is quite unmis- 
takable. In consequence of this effect, the men prohibit their wives from 
using the hemp, but the result of the prohibition seems only to be that the 
women smoke secretly instead of openly, and are afterward discovered by 
the appearance of the skin. It is the more fascinating, because its use im- 
parts a spurious strength to the body, while it enervates the mind to 
such a degree that the user is incapable of perceiving the state in which 
he is gradually sinking, or of exercising sufficient self-control to abandon 
-or even modify the destructive habit. Sekeletu was a complete victim of 
the hemp-pipe, and there is no doubt that the illness, something like the 
dreaded " craw-craw " of Western Africa, was aggravated, if not caused^ 
by over-indulgence in smoking hemp. 



CHAPTER V. 
PERILS OF TROPICAL EXPLORATIONS. 

Remarkable Successes of Livingstone — Forming a Station in the Wilderness — The 
Explorer Builds a House — Search for a Great Lake— A Desert with Prodigious 
Herds of Wild Animals— Starling on a Perilous Journey — Wagons Left in Charge 
of Natives — Travelling in Frail Canoes — Haunts of the Hippopotami— Thrilling 
Adventure with Crocodiles — Frantic Struggles to Escape from Death — Shooting- 
the Huge Monster — Seized with a Sudden Horror— A Great Splash and a Cry of 
Joy — Ancient Crocodiles with Immense Jaws — Exciting Encounter with a 
River-Horse — A Remarkable Chief — Rivers and Swamps Breeding Fevers — 
Reaching the Banks of the Zambesi — Prevalence of a Troublesome Fly — A 
Magnificent River — Livingstone's Journey of a Thousand Miles with his Family — 
Malicious Attack by the Dutch Boers — Livingstone's House Plundered — The 
Explorer Reaches* the Capital of the Makololo — Cordial Welcome from the 
Natives — The Young King Has a Rival — Ascending the Great River Zambesi- 
Attempt on the Life of the King — Makololo Architecture — A Grand Dance — 
Expedition to the West — The Balonda Country — A Visit to Shinti— Scarcity of 
Food — Arrival at Loanda — Attacked by Savages— On the Leeba — Arrival at 
Linyanti. 

'AVING given a full description of the curious customs and re- 
markable character of the tribes among whom Livingstone 
spent many years, we are now prepared to take up the thread of 
the narrative and follow him through his various fortunes, his 
trials and his remarka^Dle successes. The chief of the Bakwains, 
Sechele, renounced his heathenism, became a much better man than he 
had been before, restored his wives to their fathers, and lived in every 
respect a thoroughly consistent life. 

The Dutch Boers, who had pushed forward to the confines of the 
country, proved, however, most adverse to the success of the mission by 
carrying off the natives and compelling them to labor as slaves. By 
advice Sechele and his people moved to Kolobeng, a stream about, two 
hundred miles north of Kuruman, where Dr. Livingstone formed a 
station. 

He here built a house with his own hands, having learned carpentering 
and gardening from Mr. Moffatt, as also blacksmith work. He had now 
become handy at almost any trade, in addition to doctoring and preach- 
ing, and, as his wife could make candles, soap, and clothes, they 
possessed what might be considered the indispensable accomplishments 
of a missionary family in Central Africa. 
(98) 



PERILS OF TROPICAL EXPLORATIONS. 99 

Among the gentlemen who had visited the station was Mr. Oswell, in 
the East India Company's service. He deserves to take rank as an Af- 
rican traveller. Hearing that Dr. Livingstone purposed crossing the 
Kalahara Desert in search of the great Lake N'gami; long known to 
exist, he came from India on purpose to join him, accompanied by Mr. 
Murray, volunteering to pay the entire expenses of the guides. 

The Kalahara, though called a desert from being composed of soft sand 
and being destitute of water, supports prodigious herds of antelopes, 
while numbers of elephants, rhinoceros, lions, hyaenas, and other wild 
animals roam over it. They find support from the astonishing quantity 
of grass which grows in the region, as also from a species of watermelon, 
and from several tuberous roots, the most curious of which is as large as 
the head of a young child, and filled with a fluid like that of a turnip. 
Another is an herbaceous creeper, the tubers of which, as large as a man's 
head, it deposits in a circle of a yard or more horizontally from the stem. 
On the watermelons especially, the elephants and other wild animals 
revel luxuriously. 

Starting- on a Hazardous Journey. 

Such was the desert Livingstone and his party proposed to cross when 
they set out with their wagon on the first of June, 1849, from Kolobeng. 
Instead, however, of taking a direct course across it, they determined to 
take a more circuitous route, which, though longer, they hoped would 
prove safer. 

Continuing on, they traversed three hundred miles of desert, when, at 
the end of a month, they reached the banks of the Zouga, a large river, 
richly fringed with fruit-bearing and other trees, many of them of gigantic 
growth, running north-east towards Lake N'gami. They received a 
cordial welcome from the peace-loving inhabitants of its banks, the 
■Bayeiye. 

Leaving the wagons in charge of the natives, with the exception of a 
small one which proceeded along the bank, Livingstone embarked in one 
of their canoes. Frail as are the canoes of the natives, they make long 
trips in them, and manage them with great skill, often standing up and 
paddling with long light poles. They thus daringly attack the hippo- 
potami in their haunts, or pursue the swift antelope which ventures to 
swim across the river. After voyaging on the stream for twelve days, 
they reached the broad expanse of Lake N'gami. Though wide, it is 
excessively shallow, and brackish during the rainy season. They here 
heard of the Tamunacle and other large rivers flowing into the lake. 

Livingstone's main object in coming was to visit Sebituane, the great 



100 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

chief of the Makololo, who hve about two hundred miles to the north- 
ward. The chief of the district, Sechulatebe, refused, however, either to 
give them goods or to allow them to cross the river. Having in vain 
attempted to form a raft to ferry over the wagon, they were reluctantly 
compelled to abandon their design. ■ The doctor had been working at the 
raft in the river, not aware of the number of crocociles which swarmed 
around him, and had reason to be thankful that he escaped their jaws. 

These creatures are the foes of the traveller, and even the natives 
entertain for them a peculiar dread. Once in their ferocious jaws all hope 
is gone. Livingstone had many narrow escapes from the crocodiles which 
infest many of the rivers of Africa. A graphic account from the writings 
of a traveller in Africa shows the dangers sometimes met with by Trop- 
ical explorers. The account is as follows 

Suddenly the scene became startling. I heard an exclamation of hor- 
ror from the natives, who, with eyes starting from their sockets, pointed 
eastward toward the nearer tree clumps. 

" What is it ? " said I, straining my eyes in the same direction, but in 
vain. 

" Crocodiles ! Crocodiles ! " 

I repeated the word mechanically, my heart sinking within me as I, 
too, began to distinguish the black points which indicated to the natives' 
quick eyes the approaching enemy. 

Face to Face witli tlie Monsters. 

;" Are you sure ? " I wihispered hoarsely, the cold sweat pouring off 
my forehead. 

"Yes, Sahib, certain; there are four of them." 

I had only six explosive-ball cartridges, and, in spite of their terrible 
effectiveness, I could but remember that the crocodile in the water is 
well-nigh invulnerable, with only his armor-plated back exposed. How- 
ever, the terrible foe was still some way off, and I should not myself have 
detected them but for the natives' quick instinct. There was nothing left 
us but to try, at any cost, to reach the nearest of the tree islands, avoid- 
ing by guess the bottomless mud-holes that beset the path. 

The unfortunate native who was responsible for our position headed 
the line again, sounding to right and left, as he advanced, with his spear. 
It is impossible to describe this adventure — marching through the water, 
pursued by crocodiles, not daring to put down one's foot until assured by 
sounding that it would reach something solid. Although the island grew 
perceptibly nearer, our hungry neighbors did too, and at an increasing 
pace. Still we were distancing them — for over many of the shoals they 




(101) 



102 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

could not swim, and wading, for a crocodile, is a slow process — when, 
without warning, and as quick as lightning, we felt the ground sink 
beneath our feet, and we were all four precipitated simultaneously into the 
swamp. Instinctively, my attendant and I raised our weapons and am- 
munition high over our heads, for when we touched bottom — that is, a 
fairly solid layer of vegetable matter — the water reached our arm-pits. 
" We might as well give up," said I, in despair ; " this time we are lost ! " 
" Oh, don't give up yet. Sahib. We are so low that, with this head 
wind, the crocodiles cannot see us and will perhaps be unable to find us 
at all. Let us cover our heads with these marsh grasses and leaves and 

'lie low.'" 

Struggling- for Dear Liife. 

His advice was so evidently good that instead of a vain attempt to 
reach the firm land with its inevitable exposure to the hungry eyes of our 
terrible pursuers, we acquiesced at once. After several minutes of suspense, 
the native raised himself slightly on a hummock, and glanced cautiously 
toward the spot where we had last seen them. His face cleared at once, 
and he cheered us with — 

" They have lost us, and have separated to search for us. Three are 
going almost directly from this place, and one only knows enough to keep 
on in the first course." 

" And he is headed for us ? " 

"In a straight line !" 

"Then do not lose sight of him for an instant. With one enemy we 
may be able to cope, and then there is a chance that he may lose the scent." 

When I asked him again where the animal was — for I dared not raise 
my own head to look — he replied that he was still coming straight toward 
us, and I saw that a meeting was inevitable and made my preparations 
accordingly. 

I took my rifle and loaded it with an explosive ball. 

"Now then," said I, "listen to my instructions. The native says the 
crocodile is sure to find us. I shall let him get within ten yards of us, 
and then I shall fire at whatever vulnerable part I can — his eye or his 
belly. Of course I may miss him, or the bullet may glance off his back 
without wounding him." 

The black's eyes rolled with horror. 

" Then, without an instant's hesitation and yet without haste, you, who 
must stand just behind me, must take my rifle and hand me my other gun 
for a second shot. Do you understand ? " 

" Perfectly." 




THE FAMOUS ANTEDILUVIAN CROCODILE. 



(103) 



104 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

"And I can depend on you?" 
"Till death.'' 

"We will try to make it less bad than that, and your courage shall meet, 
its reward." 

"A Shudder of Horror Kan through Me." 

I knew what he said was true, for the fellow had been devoted to me 
ever since I saved his life in the jungle when the gorilla grappled him, 
and I felt I could rely upon him. 

Raising myself as high as I could, I took a good look at the slowly 
approaching monster, and, I confess, a shudder of horror ran through me 
at his immense size. He was farther off than I expected, and evidently 
quite unconscious of our neighborhood, into which he had come by chance, 
following the raised path on which Ave ourselves had been travelling when 
the tide overtook us. I immediately changed my plan of attack. I 
ordered my attendant to wade off to the left so that the smoke from his 
gun should not blow across me, and told him to fire at the crocodile and 
try to wound him, if only slightly. 

As this would make the latter raise his head and look round, I hoped 
to get a shot at some vulnerable spot, and land an explosive ball where it 
would do most good. I had hardly taken up my position, with rifle lifted, 
when my attendant's gun cracked sharp and clear, and I saw blood fly 
from the eye of the crocodile, whose advance ceased immediately. I 
could scarcely restrain a cry of joy, but catching sight of a yellow piece 
of neck, I fired at it and slfut my eyes. A great splash and the shouts of 
triumph of the natives encouraged me to open them, and I found the suc- 
cess of the shot greater than I had hoped. 

A Hard Death. 
[ The crocodile lay on his side on a little island with his neck blowti 
open the entire length of the jaw, while the natives who made a break for 
land without regard to me, capered round him. I called them, and »the)r 
helped me on shore to where the animal lay in his last agony — for these 
brutes die as hard as a snake. He was a very large specimen, with a 
head twice as long as it was broad, his eyes set close together above his 
long snout, of which only the under jaw was movable. His front feet 
had five toes armed with claws, and his hind feet but four, and webbed to 
allow him to swim easily. His whole body was shingled with plates of 
a shell-like membrane that made him a fine coat of mail nearly bullet- 
proof. Green on the back, his color gradually shaded off into yellow^ 
and he was a terrible foe to meet in the water, where we should not have- 
come off so well had not our good luck stood by us just as it did. 



■" iTTfflmflfflflTrtrTlTTff!^^ 




PERILS OF TROPICAL EXPLORATION. 105 

I was duly thankful to regain the bank, which I had never expected to 
touch again, and had not the heart to blame the native who was respon- 
sible for our narrow escape; but I resolved to place less reliance on the 

natives in future. 

Ancient Crocodiles. 

It is interesting to see what changes take place in the Animal Kingdom 
with the lapse of ages. For instance, the early crocodile, the great 
monster that lived thousands of years ago had larger jaws, more terrible 
teeth, and a fiercer look than the crocodile of to-day. We present a 
striking illustration of this ancient monster reproduced from his remains 
which have been found. 

Returning to Livingstone, the season being far advanced, they deter- 
mined to return to Kolobeng, Mr. Oswell generously volunteering to go^ 
down to the Cape and bring up a boat for next season. Half the royal 
premium for the encouragement of geographical science and discoveries 
was awarded by the council of the Royal Geographical Society to Dr. 
Livingstone for the discoveries he made on this journey. 

Sechele, the Christian chief of the Bakwains, who was eager to assist 
him in reaching Sebituane, offered his services, and with him as a guide,, 
accompanied by Mrs. Livingstone and their three children, he set 
out, in April, 1850, taking a more easterly course than before. They 
again reached the lake, but the greater number of the party being at- 
tacked by fever, he was compelled to abandon his design of visiting 
Sebituane. He here heard of the death of a young artist, Mr. Rider who 
had shortly before visited the lake for the purpose of making sketches. 
Hunting- tlie Hippotamus. 

The natives inhabiting the banks of the rivers falling into Lake N'gami 
are famed for their skill in hunting the hippopotamus. In perfect silence 
they approach in their light canoes, and plunge their sharp spears, with 
thongs attached, into the back of one of the huge creatures, which dashes 
down the stream, towing the canoe at a rapid rate. Thus the animal con^ 
tinues its course, the hunters holding on to the rope, till its strength is ex- 
hausted when, other canoes coming up, it is speared to death. 

Frequently, however, the hippopotamus turns on its assailants, bites the 
canoe in two, and seizes one of them in its powerful jaws. When they 
can manage to do so, they tow it into shallow water, and carrying the 
line oh shore, secure it to a tree, while they attack the infuriated animal 
with their spears, till, sinking exhausted with its efforts, it becomes theif 
prey./ , 
' Mr. Oswell. who had arrived too latefor the journey, spent the remain-^ 



106 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

der of the season in hunting elephants, Hberally presenting Dr. Living- 
stone with the proceeds of his sport,, for the outfit of his children. 

The third journey was commenced in the spring of 185 1, when, rejoined 
by Mr. Oswell, he set out once more, accompanied by Mrs. Livingstone 
and their children. 

First travelling north, and then to the north-east, through a region 
covered with baobab-trees, abounding with springs, and inhabited by 
Bushmen, they entered an arid and difficult country. Here, the supply 
of water became exhausted, great anxiety was felt for the children, who 
suffered greatly from thirst. At length a small stream, the Mababe, was 
reached, running into a marsh, across which they had to make their way. 
During the night they traversed a region infested by the tsetse, a fly not 
much larger than the common house-fly, the bite of which destroys cattle 
and horses. 

A Terrible Pest. 

It is remarkable that neither man, wild animals, nor even calves as long 
as they continue to suck, suffer from the bite of this fearful pest. While 
some districts are infested by it, others in the immediate neighborhood 
are free, and, as it does not bite at night, the only way the cattle of travel- 
lers can escape is by passing quickly through the infested district before 
the sun is up. Sometimes the natives lose the whole of their cattle by its 
attacks, and travellers frequently have been deprived of all means of moving 
with their wagons, in consequence of the death of their animals; some, 
indeed, have perished from' being unable to proceed. 

Having reached the Chobe, a large river, which falls into the Zambesi, 
leaving their attendants encamped with their cattle on an island, Living- 
stone and his family, with Mr. Oswell, embarked in a canoe on the former 
river, and proceeded down it about twenty miles to an island, Avhere 
Sebituane was waiting to receive them. 

The chief, pleased with the confidence the doctor had shown in bring- 
ing his wife and children, promised to take them to see his country, that 
they might choose a spot where they might form a missionary station. 
He had been engaged in warfare nearly all his life, under varying fortunes, 
with the neighboring savage tribes, and had at length established himself 
in a secure position behind the Chobe and Leeambye, whose broad 
streams guarded him from the inroads of his enemies. He had now a 
larger number of subjects and was richer in cattle than any chief in that 
part of Africa. 

The rivers and swamps, however, of the region produced fever, which 
4iad proved fatal to many of his people. He had long been anxious for 



PERILS OF TROPICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



107 



intercourse with Europeans, and showed every wish to encourage those 
who now visited him to remain in his territory. Unhappily, a few days 
after the arrival of his guests the chief was attacked with inflammation 
of the lungs, originating in an old wound, and, having listened to the 
gospel message delivered by the doctor, he in a short time breathed his 
last. 

Dr. Livingstone says that he was decidedly the best specimen of a 
native chief he had ever met. His followers expressed the hope that the 
English would be as friendly to his children as they intended to have 
been to himself. 

The chieftainship devolved at his death on a daughter, who gave the 




THE FINAL ATTACK OM A SAVAGE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

visitors leave to travel through any part of the country they chose. 7 hey 
accordingly set out, and traversing a level district covered with wild date- 
trees, and here and there large patches of swamp, for a distance of a 
hundred and thirty miles to the north-east, they reached the banks of the 
Zambesi, in the centre of the continent. 

From the prevalence of the tsetse, and the periodical rise of its nu- 
merous streams causing malaria. Dr. Livingstone was compelled to 
abandon the intention he had formed of removing his own people thither 
that they might be out of reach of their savage neighbors, the Dutch 
Boers. It was, however, he at once saw, the key of Southern and Central 
ATrica. 

The magnificent stream, on the bank of which he now stood, flows 



I'^S' WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

hundreds of miles east tq the Indian Ocean — a mighty artery supplying, 
life to the teeming population of that part of Africa. He therefore deter- 
mined to send his wife and children to England, and to return himself 
and spend two or three years in the new region he had discovered, in the 
hope of evangelizing the people. 

He accordingly returned to Kolobeng, and then set out with his family 
a journey of a thousand miles, to Cape Town. Having seen them aboard 
a homeward bound ship, he again turned his face northward, June, 1852. 
The Explorer's House Kotobed. 

Having reached Kuruman, he was there detained by the breaking of a 
wagon-wheel. During that time the Dutch Boers attacked his friends, 
the Bakwains, carrying off a number of them into slavery, the only excuse 
the white men had being that Sechele was getting too saucy — in reality 
because he would not prevent the English traders from passing through 
his territory to the northwa:rd. The Dutch plundered Livingstone's 
house, and carried off the wagons of the chief and that of a trader who 
was stopping in the place. Livingstone therefore found great difficulty 
in obtaining guides and servants to proceed northward. Poor Sechele 
set out for Cape Town, intending as he said, to lay his complaint before 
the Queen of England, but was compelled by want of funds to return to 
his own country, where he devoted himself to the evangelization of his 
people. 

Parting with the chief, Livingstone, giving the Boers a wide berth, pro- 
ceeded across the desert to 'Linyanti, the capital of the Makololo, where 
he had visited the Chief Sebituane in 185 1. The whole population, 
amounting to nearly seven thousand souls, turned out to welcome him. 
He found that the princess had abdicated in favor of her brother Se- 
keletu, who received him with the greatest cordiality. The young king, 
then only nineteen, exclaimed: " I have now got another father instead 
of Sebituane." The people shared this feeling, believing that by the 
residence of a missionary among them they would obtain some important, 
benefits, though of the real character of the blessing they might receive 
they were totally ignorant. 

A rival of the young king existed in the person of a cousin, Mpepe, 
who had been appointed by the late king chief over a portion of 
his subjects, but whose ambition made him aim at the command of the 
whole. 

Half-caste Portuguese slave-traders had made their way to Linyanti^ 
and one, who pretended to be an important person, was carried about in^ 
a hammock slung between two .poles, which looking like a bag, the 




GREAT BAOBAB TREE OF AFRICA. 



(109) 



110 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

natives called him " the father of the bag." Mpepe favored these scoun- 
drels, as he hoped by their means to succeed in his rebellion. The 
arrival of Livingstone, however, somewhat dampened their hopes. 
Living-stone Saves a Chief from an Assassin. 

As the chief object of the doctor was to select a spot for a settlement, he 
ascended, accompanied by Sekeletu, the great river Zambesi, which had 
been discovered in the year 185 1. The doctor had taught the Makololo 
to ride on their oxen, which they had never before done, though, having 
neither saddles or bridles, they constantly fell off. 

He and Sekeletu were riding along side by side, when they encoun- 
tered Mpepe, who, as soon as he saw them, ran towards the chief with 
his axe uplifted; but Sekeletu, galloping on, escaped him. On their 
arrival at their camp, while the chief and the doctor were sitting to- 
gether, Mpepe appeared, his men keeping hold of their arms. At that 
moment the rebel entered ; but the doctor, unconsciously covering 
Sekeletu's body, saved him from the assassin's blow. His cousin's inten- 
tion having been revealed to Sekeletu, that night Mpepe was dragged 
off from his fire and speared. So quietly was the deed done that 
Livingstone heard nothing of it till the next morning. 

Livingstone was soon after this attacked by fever, when his hosts 
exhibited the interest they felt for him by paying him every attention in 
their power. His own remedies of a wet sheet and quinine were more 
successful than the smoke and vapor baths employed by the natives. 

It is important that the position of Linyanti should be noted, as from 

it Livingstone set out on his journey westward to Loanda, on the West 

Coast, and, returning to it, commenced from thence that adventurous 

expedition to the East Coast, which resulted in so many interesting 

discoveries. 

A Picturesque Company. 

Having recovered from his fever, Livingstone, accompanied by Sekeletu, 
^ and about one hundred and sixty attendants, mostly young men, asso- 
ciates of the chief, set out for Sesheke. The intermediate country was 
perfectly flat, except patches elevated a few feet only above the sur- 
rounding level. There were also numerous mounds, the work of ants, 
which are literally gigantic structures, and often as tall as wild date trees 
.'at their full heig-ht. 

The party looked exceedingly picturesque as, the ostrich feathers of the 
men waving in the air, they wound in a long line in and out among the 
mounds. Some wore red tunics or variously-colored prints, and their 
heads vvere adorned with the white ends of ox tails or caps made of lions' 




(Ill) 



112 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

manes. The nobles walked with a small club of rhinoceros horn in their 
hands, their servants carrying their shields; while the ordinary men bore 
burdens, and the battle-axe men, who had their shields on their arms, 
were employed as messengers, often having to run an immense distance. 

The Makololo possess numerous cattle, and the chief, having to feed 
his followers, either selected oxen from his own stock or received them 
from the head men of the villages through which they passed, as tribute. 

Reaching the village of Katonga on the banks of the Leeambye, some 
time was spent there in collecting canoes. During this delay Living- 
stone visited the country to the north of the village, where he saw enor- 
mous numbers of buffaloes, zebras, elans, and a beautiful small antelope. 
He was enabled, by this hunting expedition, to supply his companions 
with an abundance of food. 

At length, a sufficient number of canoes being collected, they com- 
menced the ascent of the river. His own canoe had six paddles, while 
that of the chief had ten. They paddled standing upright, and kept 
stroke with great exactness. Being flat-bottomed, they can float in very 
shallow water. The fleet consisted altogether of thirty-three canoes and 
•one hundred and sixty men. 

" Man Overboard ! " 

Most of the Makololo are unable to swim, and a canoe being upset, 
one of the party, an old doctor, was lost, while the Barotse canoe-men 
easily save themselves by swimming. 

Numerous villages were seen on both banks of the river, the inhabitants 
of which are expert hunter% of the hippopotamus, and are excellent handi- 
craftmen. They manufacture wooden bowls with neat lids, and show 
much taste in carving stools. Some make neat baskets, and others excel in 
pottery and iron. On their arrival at the town of the father of Mpepe, 
who had instigated his son to rebellion, two of his chief councilors were 
led forth and tossed into the river. 

Naliele, the capital of the Barotse, the tribe inhabiting the district in 
which they now were, is built on an artificially-constructed mound, as are 
many other villages of that region, to raise them above the overflowing 
river. From finding no trace of European names amongthem, Livingstone 
was convinced that the country had not before been visited by white men ; 
whereas, after he had come among them, great numbers of children were 
named after his own boy, while others were called Horse, Gun, Wagon, etc. 

Koaring Liions. 

Here again numbers of large game were seen. Eighty-one buffaloes 
defiled in slow procession before the fire of the travellers one evening 




(113) 



114 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

within gunshot, and herds of splendid elans stood at two hundred yards' 
distance, without showing signs of fear. Lions, too, approached and 
roared at them. One . night, as they were sleeping on the summit of a 
large sandbank, a lion appeared on the opposite shore, who amused him- 
self for hours by roaring as loudly as he could. The river was too broad 
for a ball to reach him, and he walked off without suffering for his imper- 
tinence. Livingstone saw two as tall as common donkeys, their manes 
making their bodies appear of still greater size. 

Lions are in the habit of preying upon cattle, and the natives have to 
contrive all manner of ways for protecting their herds. These formida- 
ble beasts have been known to carry off young cattle as large as 
themselves. 

On their journey they visited the town of Ma-Sekeletu, or the Mother 

of Sekeletu, where, as it was the first visit the king had paid to this part of 

his dominions, he was received with every appearance of joy. A grand 

dance was got up, the men moving in a circle, with spears and small 

battle-axes in their ha,nds, roaring at the loudest pitch of their voices. 

The arms and head were thrown about in every direction, the roaring 

being kept up with the utmost vigor, while the dust ascended in clouds 

around them. 

Wild Men of tlie Jungle. 

Returning down the stream at a rapid rate, they quickly reached 
Linyanti. During this nine weeks' tour. Dr. Livingstone had been in. 
closer contact with heathenism than ever before, and though, including 
the chief, everyone had been as attentive as possible, yet the dancing, 
roaring, singing, jesting, quarreling, added to the murdering propensities 
of these children of nature was painful in the extreme. 

The chief and his followers, agreeing that the object of Livingstone's 
proposed expedition to the west was most desirable, took great pains to 
assist him in the undertaking. A band of twenty-seven men was ap- 
pointed to accompany him by the chief's command, whose eager desire 
was to obtain a free and profitable trade with the white men, and this, 
Livingstone was convinced, was likely to lead to their ultimate elevation 
and improvement. Three men whom -he had brought from Kuruman 
having suffered greatly from fever, he sent them back with Fleming, a 
trader, who had followed his footsteps. His new attendants he named 
Zambesians, for there were only two Makololo men — the rest consisting 
of Barotse, Batoka, and other tribes. His wagon and remaining goods 
he committed to the charge of the Makololo, who took ^11 the articles- 
into their huts. He carried only a rifle and a double-barrelled smooth- 




(115) 



116 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

bore gun for himself, and gave three muskets to his people, by means of 
which he hoped game might be obtained for their support. 

Wishing also to save his followers from having to carry heavy loads, 
he took for his own support but a few biscuits and a pound of tea and 
sugar, about twenty of coffee, a small tin canister with some spare shirting, 
trousers, and shoes, another for medicines, and a third for books, while a 
fourth contained a magic lantern. His ammunition was distributed in 
portions among the whole luggage, that, should an accident occur to one, 
the rest might be preserved. His camp equipage consisted of a gipsy 
tent, a sheep-skin mantle, and a horse-rug as a bed, as he had always 
found that the chief art of successful travelling consisted in taking as few 
impediments as possible. His sextant, artificial horizon, thermometer, 
and compasses were carried apart. 

Carry as little as he would, Livingstone found that he was compelled 
to take more baggage than could be conveniently transported through 
African forests and jungles. Some people in civilized countries when 
they travel appear to take everything they need and everything they do 
not need ; it cannot be said of our great explorer, however, that he took 
anything which was not needed. His box of medicines was, of course, 
a constant companion ; we shall see farther on that this box was lost or 
stolen and that the expedition was left entirely without medical remedies. 
Often large parts of the baggage would have to be exchanged with the 
natives for food, or paid out as tribute to unfriendly chiefs. This was 
one of the unpleasant experiences and severe hardships which the great 
traveller encountered. • 

It will be seen through all these journeys that Livingstone was per- 
fectly willing to share the fate of his men. He asked nothing for him- 
self better than he was willing to grant for them. If they slept on the 
hard ground, he was willing to sleep there too ; if they waded rivers, he 
was willing to go in as deep as they went; if they had unwholesome 
food, and little of it, he was ready to divide with them his last crust. 
By his own self-sacrificing and generous spirit he attached himself 
strongly to his followers. This was one great secret of his magnificent 
achievements in the Dark Continent 




CHAPTER VI. 
STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 

Dangers of River Navigation — Luxuriant Wild Fruits — Skillful Management of Canoes 
by Natives — Magnificent Scenery — Man Seized by a Crocodile — Beautiful Flowers 
and Wild Honey— Strapping Chieftainess Smeared with Fat and Red Ochre — 
Pompous Chief— Curious Piano — Portuguese Traders — Warm Reception to the 
Explorers— Lifting off Roofs of Houses to Cover the Travellers — A Chief who Killed 
His Subjects for Amusement — Remarkable Custom for Cementing Friendship — 
Tricksters who Want Money — Livingstone Suffers from Fever— Savage Attack 
upon the Expedition — Using Charms and Cupping for Sickness — Black Corporal 
for an Escort— Beautiful Country Going to Waste — Vast Herds of Cattle — An 
Ornamental Garden — Natives Astonished by Strange Sights — Generous Gifts of 
Jolly Tars— "Stones that Burn"— An Attractive Town— The Irrepressible Don- 
key — Strange Belief in Evil Spirits— Grotesque Head-dresses — Fine Sport with 
the Gun — The Expedition Travelling in Small Canoes — Livingstone Charged by 
a Buffalo— Noisy Welcome to the Explorers — Troops of Elephants. 

N the nth of November, 1853, accompanied by the chief and his 
principal men to see him off, Livingstone left and embarked on 
the Chobe. The chief danger in navigating this river is from the 
bachelor hippopotami who have been expelled their herd, and, 
whose tempers being soured, the canoes are frequently upset by them. 
One of these misanthropes chased some of his men, and ran after them 
on shore with considerable speed. The banks of the river were clothed 
with trees, among them acacias and evergreens, from the pink-colored 
specimens of which a pleasant acid drink is obtained. 

Leaving the Chobe, they entered the Leeambye, up which they pro- 
ceeded at a somewhat slow rate, as they had to wait at different villages 
for supplies of food. Several varieties of wild fruit were presented to 
them. The crews of the canoes worked admirably, being always in good 
humor, and, on any danger threatening, immediately leaped overboard 
to prevent them coming broadside to the stream, or being caught by 
eddies, or dashed against the rocks. Birds, fish, iguanas, and hippo- 
potami abounded ; indeed the whole river teemed with life. 

On November 30th, the Gonye Falls were reached. No rain having 
fallen, it was excessively hot. They usually got up at dawn — about five 
in the morning — coffee was taken and the canoes loaded, the first two 
hours being the most pleasant part of the day's sail. The Barotse, 
being a tribe of boatmen, managed their canoes admirably. 

(117) 



118 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

At about eleven they landed to lunch. After an hour's rest they 
embarked, the doctor with an umbrella overhead. Sometimes they 
reached a sleeping-place two hours before sunset. Coffee was again 
served out, with coarse bread made of maize meal, or Indian corn, 
unless some animal had been killed, when a potful of flesh was boiled. 
The canoes were carried beyond the falls; slung on poles placed on men's 
shoulders. Here as elsewhere the doctor exhibited his magic lantern, 
greatly to the delight of the people. 

Beautiful Scenery. 

Nothing could be more lovely than the scenery of the falls. The water 
rushes through a fissure and, being confined below by a space not more 
than a hundred yards wide, goes rolling over and over in great masses, 
amid which the most expert swimmer can in vain make way. 

The doctor was able to put a stop to an intended fight between the 
inhabitants of two villages. -Several volunteers offered to join him, but 
his followers determined to adhere to the orders of Seketelu, and refused 
all other companions. They were treated most liberally by the inhabi- 
tants of all the villages, who presented them with more oxen, milk and 
meal than they could stow away. Entering the Leeambye, Livingstone 
proceeded up that stream in his canoe, while his oxen and a portion of 
his men continued their journey along its banks. 

The rain had fallen, and nature had put on her gayest apparel ; flowers 
of great beauty and curious forms grew everywhere, many of the forest 
trees having palmated leaves, the trunks being covered with lichens, 
while magnificent ferns were seen in all the moister situations. In the 
cool morning the welkin rang with the singing of birds, and the ground 
swarmed with insect life. 

Combat witli a Monstrous Crocodile. 

Crocodiles were in prodigious numbers, children and calves being 
constantly carried off by them. One of his men was seized, but, retaining 
his presence of mind when dragged to the bottom, he struck the monster 
with his javelin and escaped, bearing the marks of the reptile's teeth on 
his thigh. The doctor's men had never before used firearms, and, proving 
bad shots, came to him for " gun medicine " to enable them to shoot 
better. As he was afraid of their exhausting his supply of powder, he was 
compelled to act as sportsman for the party. 

Leaving Leeambye, he proceeded up the Leeba. Beautiful flowers 
and abundance of wild honey was found on its shores, and large num- 
bers of young crocodiles were seen sunning themselves on the sandbanks 
with their parents. 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



119 



They had now reached the Balonda country, and received a visit from 
a, chieftainess, Manenko, a tall strapping woman covered with ornaments 




and smeared over with fat and red ochre as a protection against the 
weather. She invited them to visit her uncle Shinti, the chief of the 



120 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

dountry. They set out in the midst of a heavy drizzHng mist; on, how- 
ever, the lady went, in the hghtest marching order. The doctor enquired' 
why she did not clothe herself during the rain; but it appeared that she 
did not consider it proper for a chief to appear effeminate. The men, in 
admiration of her pedestrian powers, every now and then remarked: 
"Manenko is a soldier." Some of the people in her train carried shields 
composed of reeds, of a square form, five feet long and three broad. 
With these, and armed with broadswords and quivers full of iron-headed 
arrows, they looked somewhat ferocious, but are in reality not noted for 

their courage. 

A Pompous Chief. 

The doctor was glad when at length the chieftainess halted on the- 
banks of a stream, and preparations were made for the night's lodgings 
After detaining them several days, she accompanied them on foot to 
Shinti's town. The chief's .place of audience was ornamented by two 
graceful banyan trees, beneath one of which he sat on a sort of throne 
covered with a leopard-skin. He wore a checked shirt and a kilt of 
scarlet baize, edged with green, numerous ornaments covering his arms- 
and legs, while on his head was a helmet of beads, crowned with large 
goose feathers. At his side sat three lads with quivers full of arrows 
over their shoulders. 

Livingstone took his seat under the shade of another tree opposite to 
the chief, while the spokesman of the party, who had accompanied them, 
in a loud voice, walking backwards and forwards, gave an account of the 
doctor and his connection "with the Makololo. Behind the chief sat a. 
hundred women clothed in red baize, while his wife was sitting in front 
of him. Between the speeches the ladies burst forth into a sort of plain- 
tive ditty. 

Singular Piano, 

The party was entertained by a band of musicians, consisting of three 
drummers and four performers on the marimba, a species of piano. It 
consists of two bars of wood placed side by side ; across these are fixed 
fifteen wooden keys, each two or three inches broad and about eighteen 
long, their thickness being regulated by the deepness of the note required. 
Each of the keys has a calabash below it, the upper portion of which, 
being cut off to hold the bars, they form hollow sounding-boards to the 
keys. These are also of different sizes according to the notes required. 
The keys are struck by small drum sticks to produce the sound. The 
Portuguese have imitated the marimba, and use it in their dances in. 
Anerola. 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



121 



The women in this country are treated with more respect by the men 
than in other parts of Africa. A party of Mambari, with two native 
Portuguese traders, had come up to obtain slaves, and, while Dr. Living- 
stone was residing with Shinti, some young children were kidnapped,, 
evidently to be sold to them. 

The day before he was to recommence his journey, the doctor received 
a visit in his tent from Shinti, who, as a mark of his friendship, presented 
him with a shell on which he set the greatest value, observing : " There, 
now you have a proof of my affection." These shells, as marks of dis- 
tinction, are so highly valued that for two of them a slave may be bought,, 
and five will buy an elephant's tusk worth fifty dollars. The old 
chief had provided a guide, Int6mese, to conduct them to the territory of 




THE MARIMBA, OR AFRICAN PIANO. 

f 

the next chief, Katema. He also gave an abundant supply of food, and 
wished them a prosperous journey. Livingstone again started on the 26th 
of January, Shinti sending eight men to assist in carrying his luggage. 
He had now to quit the canoes and to proceed on ox-back, taking a 
northerly direction. 

He and his party received the same kind treatment in the country as 
before, the villagers, by command of their chiefs, presenting them with an 
abundance of food. They found English cotton cloth more eagerly 
enquired after than beads and ornaments. On arriving at a village the 
inhabitants lifted off the roofs of some of their huts, and brought them 
to the camp, to save the men the trouble of booth-making. On starting 
again the villagers were left to replace them at their leisure, no payment 



122 .^ WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

(being expected. Heavy rains now came on, and the doctor and his party 
were continually wet to the skin. 

Polite as the people were, they were still fearful savages. Messengers 
.arrived from the neighboring town to announce the death of their chief, 
Matiamvo. That individual had been addicted to running a-muck 
through his capital and beheading any one he met, till he had a large 
heap of human heads in front of his hut. Men were also slaughtered 
occasionally, whenever the chief wanted part of a body to perform cer- 
tain charms. 

The Balonda appear to have some belief in the existence of the soul, 
and a greater feeling of reverence in their composition than the tribes to 
the eastward. Among their customs they have a remarkable one. Those 
who take it into their heads to become friends, cement their friendship. 
Taking their seats opposite one to the other, with a vessel of beer by the 
side of each, they clasp hands. They then make cuts on their clasped 
hands, the pits of their stomachs, their foreheads, and right cheeks. The 
point of a blade of grass is then pressed against the cuts, and afterwards 
each man washes it in his own pot of beer ; exchanging pots, the contents 
are drunk, so that each man drinks the blood of the other. Thus they 
consider that they become blood relations and are bound in every possi- 
ble way to assist each other. These people were greatly surprised at the 
liberty enjoyed by the Makololo. 

Playing- Tricks for Money. 

The travellers paid a visit to Katema, the chief of the district, who 
received them dressed in a snuff-brown coat, with a helmet of beads and 
feathers on his head, and in his hand a number of tails oi gnus bound 
together. He also sent some of his men to accompany them on their 
journey. The rains continued, and the doctor suffered much from having 
to sleep on the wet ground. Having reached the latitude of Loanda, 
Livingstone now directed his course to the westward. On the 4th of 
March he reached the outskirts of the territory of the Chiboque. 

As he approached the more civilized settlements, he found the habits 
of the people changed much for the worse : tricks of all sorts were played 
to detain him and obtain tribute; the guides also tried in every way to 
impose on him. Even his Makololo expressed their sorrow at seeing so 
beautiful a country ill cultivated and destitute of cattle. 

He was compelled to sell one of his riding oxen for food, as none could 
be obtained. The Chiboque coming round in great numbers, their chief 
demanded tribute, and one of their number made a charge at Livingstone, 
but quickly retreated on having the muzzle of the traveller's gun pointed 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



123 



:at his head. The chief and his councillors, however, consenting to sit 
'down on the ground, the Makololo, well drilled, surrounded them, and 
thus got them completely in their power. A mutiny, too, broke out 
among his own people, who complained of want of food; but it was sup- 
pressed by the appearance of the doctor with a double-barrelled pistol 
in his hand. They never afterwards gave him any trouble. 

Similar demands for payment to allow him to pass through the country 
were made by other chiefs, his faithful Makololo giving up their orna- 
ments, as he had done nearly all the beads and shirts in his possession. 
The most extortionate of these chiefs was loaga Panza, whose sons, after 




STAMPEDE OF SOUTH AFRICAN GNUS. 

receiving payment for acting as guides, deserted him. All this time 
Livingstone was suffering daily from the attacks of fever, which rendered 
him excessively weak, so that he could scarcely sit upon his ox. 

The country appeared fertile and full of small villages, and the soil is 
so rich that little labor is required for its cultivation. . It is, however, the 
chief district whence slaves are obtained, and a feeling of insecurity was 
evident amongst the inhabitants. A demand was now made by each 
chief for a man, an ox, or a tusk as a tribute. The first, was of course, 
refused, but nearly all the remainder of the traveller's property had to be 
ithus paid away. 



124 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

On the 4th of April they reached the banks of the Quango, here one 
hundred and fifty yards wide. The chief of the district — a young man, who 
wore his hair curiously formed into the shape of a cone, bound round 
with white thread — on their refusing to pay him an extortionate demand,, 
ordered his people not to ferry them across, and opened fire on them. 
At this juncture a half-caste Portuguese, a sergeant of militia, Cypriano 
Di Abreu, arrived, and, obtaining ferrymen, they crossed over into the 
territory of the Bangala, who are subject to the Portuguese. They had 
some time before rebelled, and troops were now stationed among them,. 
Cypriano being in command of a party of men. Nsxt morning he pro- 
vided a delicious breakfast for his guest, and fed the Makololo with 
pumpkins and maize, while he supplied them with farina for their journey 
to Kasenge, without even hinting at payment. 

The natives, though they long have had intercourse with the Portu- 
guese, are ignorant and superstitious in the extreme." Many parts of the 
country are low and marshy, and they suffer greatly from fever. Of the 
use of medicine they have no notion, their only remedies being charms 
and cupping. The latter operation is performed with a small horn,, 
which has a little hole in the upper end. The broad end is placed on the 
flesh, when the operator sucks through the hole; as the flesh rises, he 
gashes it with a knife, then replaces the horn and sucks again, till finally 
he introduces a piece of wax into his mouth, to stop up the hole, when 
the horn is left to allow the blood to gush into it. 

It took the travellers four days to reach Kasenge, a town inhabited by 
about forty Portuguese tracers and their servants. Though told by the 
doctor that he was a Protestant minister, they treated him with the 
greatest kindness and hospitality. 

A Black Corporal for an Escort. 

Here the Makololo sold Sekeletu's tusks, obtaining much better prices 
than they would have done from the Cape traders, forgetting, however, 
that their value was greatly increased by the distance they had been 
brought. 

The Makololo here expressed their fears, from what they had heard, 
that they were about to be led down to the sea-coast to be sold, but when 
Livingstone asked them if he had ever deceived them, and that he would 
assure them of their safety, they agreed to accompany him. The mer- 
chants of Kasenge treated the doctor with the most disinterested kind- 
ness, and furnished him with letters to their friends at Loanda. 

He was escorted by a black corporal of militia, who was carried in a 
hammock by his slaves. He could both read and write, and was 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



125 



cleanly in all his ways ; he was considerate also to his young slaves, and 
walked most of the way, only getting into his hammock on approaching 




a village, for the sake of keeping up his dignity. He, however, had the 
usual vices of African guides, and did not fail to cheat those he was sent 
to protect. 



126^ WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Sleeping-places were erected on the road about ten miles apart, as- 
there is a constant stream of people going to and coming from the coast. 
Goods are either carried on the head or on one shoulder, in a sort of 
basket, supported by two poles five or six feet long. When the carrier 
feels tired and halts, he plants them on the ground, allowing his burden 
to rest against a tree, so that he has not to lift it up from the ground to 
the level of his head. On arriving at a sleeping-place, the sheds were 
immediately taken possession of by the first comers, those arriving last 
having to make huts with long grass for themselves. Women might 
then be seen coming from their villages with baskets of manioc meal,, 
yams, garlic, and other roots for sale. As Livingstone had supplied 
himself with calico at Kasenge, he was able to purchase what was 
necessary. 

The district of Ambaca, through which he now passed, was excessively 
fertile. Large numbers of cattle exist on its pastures, which are well 
watered by flowing streams, while lofty mountains rise in the distance. 
It is said to contain forty thousand souls. The doctor was delighted with 
Golcongo Alto, a magnificent district — the hills bedecked with trees of 
various hues, the graceful oil-yielding palm towering above them. Here 
the commandant. Lieutenant Castro, received him in a way that won the 
doctor's affectionate regard. He calculated that this district has a popu- 
lation of a hundred and four thousand. The lieutenant regretted, as 
does every person of intelligence, the neglect with which this magnificent 
country has been treated. 

Natives Astonislied by Strange Sights. 
As they proceeded, they passed streams with cascades, on which mills- 
might easily be formed; but here numbers of carpenters were converting 
the lofty trees which grew around into planks, by splitting them with ■. 
wedges. At Trombeta the commandant had his garden ornamented with 
rows of trees, with pineapples and flowers growing between them. A few 
years ago he purchased an estate for eighty dollars, on which he had now 
a coffee plantation and all sorts of fruit trees and grape-vines, besides 
grain and vegetables growing, as also a cotton plantation. 

As they approached the sea the Makololo gazed at it, spreading out 
before them, with feelings of awe, having before believed that the whole 
world was one extended plain. They again showed their fears that 
they might be kidnapped, but Livingstone reassured them, telling them 
that as they had stood by each other hitherto, so they wQuId do to the last- 
On the 31st of M,ay they descended a declivity leading to the city of 
Loanda, where Livingstone was warmly welcomed by Mr. Gabriel, the 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



127- 



British commissioner. Seeing him so ill, he benevolently offered the 
doctor his bed. " Never shall I forget," says Livingstone, " the luxu- 
rious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling myself again on a good English couch^ 
after for six months sleeping on the ground." It took many days how- 
ever, before the doctor recovered from the exposure and fatigue he had 




• CHARMING AWAY EVIL SPIRITS. 

endured. All that time he was watched over with the most generous 
sympathy by his kind host. The Portuguese Bishop of Angola, and 
numerous other gentlemen, called on him and tendered their services. 

Her Majesty's ship " Polyphemus " coming in, the surgeon, Mr.. 
Cockin, afforded him the medical assistance he so much required, and 



t 

128 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

soon he was suficiently recovered to call on the bishop, attended by his 
Makololo followers. They had all been dressed in new robes of striped 
cotton cloth, and red caps, presented by Mr. Gabnel. The bishop, 
acting as head of the provisional government, received them in form, and 
gave them permission to come to Loanda and trade as often as they 
wished, with which they were greatly pleased. 

The Makololo gazed with astonishment at all they witnessed, the 
large stone houses and churches especially, never before having seen a 
building larger than a hut. The commanders of the " Pluto " and "Phil- 
omel," which came into the harbor, invited them on board. Knowing 
their fears, Livingstone told them that no one need go should they en- 
tertain the least suspicion of foul play. Nearly the whole party went. 
Jolly Tars and African Natives. 

Going forward amongst the men, they were received much the same as , 
the Makololo would have received them, the jolly tars handing them a 
share of the bread and beef they had for dinner. They were allowed to 
fire off a cannon, at which they were greatly pleased. This visit had a 
most beneficial effect, as it raised Livingstone still more highly than ever 
in the opinion of the natives. 

During August the doctor was again attacked by a severe fit of fever. 
His men, while he was unable to attend to them, employed themselves in 
going into the country and cutting firewood, which they sold to the in- 
habitants of the town. Mr. Gabriel also found them employment in 
unloading a collier, at six-pence a day. They continued at this work for 
upwards of a month, astonished at the vast amount of " stones that burn " 
which were taken out of her. With the mone}' thus obtained they pur- 
chased clothing, beads, and other articles to carry home with them. In 
selecting calicoes they Avere well able to judge of the best, and chose 
such pieces as appeared the strongest, without reference to color. 

Saint Paul de Loanda, once a considerable city, has now fallen greatly 
into decay. There are, however, many large stone houses, and the palace 
of the governor, and the government offices, are substantial structures. 
Trees are planted throughout the town for the sake of shade. Though 
the dwellings of the native inhabitants are composed merely of wattle and 
daub, from the sea they present an imposing appearance. 

Though at first the government lost its chief revenue from the sup- 
pression of the slave trade, it has again gradually increased by the lawful 
commerce now carried on by its merchants The officers are, however, 
so badly paid that they are compelled to engage in mercantile pursuits, 
and some attempt by bribes to assist the slave-dealers. 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



129 



From the kind and generous treatment Livingstone receiv^ed from the 
Portuguese, they rose deservedly high in his estimation. 

He now prepared for his departure. The merchants sent a present to 
Sekeletu, consisting of specimens of all their articles of trade and two 
-donkeys, that the breed might be introduced into his country, as the 
venomous fly called the tsetse cannot kill those beasts of burden. The 
■doctor was. also furnished with letters of recommendation to the Portu- 
guese authorities in Eastern Africa. The bishop likewise furnished him 
with twenty carriers, and sent forward orders to the commandants of the 
districts to the east to render him every assistance. He supplied himself 
with ammunition, and bead's, and a stock of cloth, and he gave each of 
liis men a musket. He had also purchased a horse for Sekeletu. His 
friends of the 
■"Philomel" 
iitted him out 
also with a new 
tent, and, on the 
20th of Septem- 
ber, 1854, he 
and his party 
left Loan da, es- 
corted by Mr. 
Gabriel, who, 
f r o m his un- 
wearied atten- 
tions and liber- 
ality to his men, 
had become en- 
deared to all 
their hearts. 

Passing round by the sea, he ascended the River Bengo to Icollo-i- 
Bengo, once the residence of a native king. While Mr. Gabriel returned 
to Loanda, Dr. Livingstone and his party proceeded to Golcongo Alto, 
where he left some of his men to rest, while he took an excursion to 
Kasenge, celebrated for its coffee plantations. On his return he found 
several of them suffering from fever, while one of them had gone out of 
his mind, but in short time recovered. 

He had thus an opportunity of watching the workings of slavery. 
The moment their master was ill, the slaves ate up everything on which 
they could lay their hands, till the doctor himself could scarcely obtain 




SINGULAR MODE OF DRESSING THE HAIR. 



130 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

even bread and butter. Here Sekeletu's horse was seized with inflamma- 
tion, and the poor animal afterwards died on its journey. On the 28th 
of February they reached the banks of the Quango, where they were 
again received by Cypriano. 

The colored population of Angola are sunk in the grossest superstition^ 
They fancy themselves completely in the power of spirits, and are con- 
stantly deprecating their wrath. A chief, named Gando, had lately been 
accused of witchcraft, and, being killed by the ordeal, his body was 
thrown into the river. 

Heavy payment was demanded by the ferrymen for crossing in their 
wretched canoes ; but the cattle and donkeys had to swim across. 
Avoiding their friend with the comical head-dress, they made their 
way to the camp of some Ambakistas, or half-caste Portuguese, who 
had gone across to trade in wax. They are famed for their love of 
learning, and are keen traders, and, writing a peculiarly fine hand, 
are generally employed as clerks, sometimes being called the Jews of 
Angola. 

Fantastic Head-dresses. 

The travellers were now in the country of the Bishinji, possessing the 
lowest negro physiognomy. At a village where they halted, they were 
attacked by the head man^ who had been struck by one of the Makololo 
on their previous visit, although atonement had been made. A large body 
of the natives now rushed upon them as they were passing through a 
forest, and began firing, tl^ bullets passing amid the trees. Dr. Living- 
stone fortunately encountered the chief, and, presenting a six-barrelled 
revolver, produced an. instant revolution in his martial feelings. The 
doctor then, ordering him and his people to sit down, rode off. They 
were now accompanied by their Portuguese friends, the Londa people^ 
who inhabit the banks of theLoajima. 

They elaborately dress their hair in a number of ways. It naturally" 
hangs down on their shoulders in large masses, which, with their general 
features, gives them a strong resemblance to the ancient Egyptians. 
Some of them adorn their heads with ornaments of woven hair and hide,, 
to which they occasionally suspend the tails of buffaloes. Another fash- 
ion is to weave the hair on pieces of hide in the form of buffalo horns, 
projecting on either side of the head. The young men twine their hair 
in the form of horns projecting in different directions. They frequently 
tattoo their bodies, producing figures in the form of stars. Although 
their heads are thus elaborately adorned, their bodies are almost destitute 
of clothing. 



STRANGE PLACES AND PEOPLES. 



131 



Reaching Calongo, Livingstone directed his course towards the terri- 
tory of his old friend, Katema. They were generally well received at the 




BEAUTIFUL ZEBRAS OF AFRICA. 



villages. On the 2nd of June they reached that of Kanawa. This chief, 
whose village consisted of forty or fifty huts, at first treated them very 



132 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

politely, but he took it into his head to demand an ox as tribute. On their 
refasing it, Kanawa ordered his people to arm. On this, Livingstone 
directed his Makololo to commence the march. Some did so with 
alacrity, but one of them refused, and was preparing to fire at Kanawa, 
when the doctor, giving him a blow with his pistol, made him go too. 
They had already reached the banks of the river when they found that 
Kanawa had sent on ahead to carry off all the canoes. The ferrymen 
supposing that the travellers were unable to navigate the canoes, left them, 
unprotected, on the bank. As soon as it was dark, therefore, the Mako- 
lolo quickly obtained one of them, and the whole party crossed, greatly 
to the disgust of Kanawa when he discovered in the morning what had 
occurred. 

They now took their way across the level plain, which had been flooded 
on. their former journey. Numberless vultures were flying in the air, 
showing the quantity of carrion which had been left by the waters. They 
passed Lake Dilolo, a sheet of water six or "eight miles long and two 
broad. The sight of the blue waters had a soothing effect on the doctor, 
who was suffering from fever, after his journey through the gloomy forest 
and across the wide flat. Pitsane and Mohorisi, Livingstone's chief men, 
had proposed establishing a Makololo village on the banks of the Leeba, 
near its confluence with the Leeambye, that it might become a market 
to communicate westward with Loanda, and eastward with the regions 
along the banks of the Zambesi. 

Exploits with tlie Gun. 

Old Shinti, whose capital they now reached, received them as before in 
a friendly way, and supplied them abundantly with provisions. The doc- 
tor left with him a number of plants, among which were orange, cashew, 
custard, apple, and fig-trees, with coffee, acacias, and papaws, which he 
had brought from Loanda. They were planted out in the enclosure of 
one of his principal men, with a promise that Shinti should have a share 
of them when grown. 

They now again embarked in six small canoes on the waters of the 
Leeba. Paddling down it, they next entered the Leeambye. Here they 
found a party of hunters, who had been engaged in stalking buffaloes, 
hippopotami, and other animals. They use for this purpose the skin of a 
deer, with the horns attached, or else the head and upper part of the body 
of a crane, with which they creep through the grass till they can get near 
enough to shoof their prey. 

The doctor, wishing to obtain some meat for his men, took a small 
canoe and paddled up a creek towards a herd of zebras seen on the shore. 







(133) 



134 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Firing he broke the hind leg of one of them. His men pursued it, and, 
as he walked slowly after them, he observed a solitary buffalo, which had 
been disturbed by others of his party, galloping towards him. The only 
tree was a hundred yards off The doctor cocked his rifle in the hope of 
striking the brute on the forehead. The thought occurred to him, but 
what should his gun miss fire ? The animal came on at a tremendous 
speed, but a small bush a short distance off made it swerve and expose its 
shoulder. The doctor fired, and as he heard the ball crack, he fell flat on 
his face. The buffalo bounded past him towards the water, near which it 
was found dead. His Makololo blamed themselves for not having been 
by his side, while he returned thanks to God for his preservation. 

A Joyous Reception. 

On reaching the town of Lebouta, they were welcomed with the warm- 
est demonstrations of joy, the women coming out, dancing and singing. 
Thence they were conducted to the kotlar, or house of assembly, where 
Pitsand delivered a long speech, describing the journey and the kind way 
in which they had been received at Loanda, especially by the English 
chief 

Next day Livingstone held a service, when his Makololo braves, ar- 
rayed in their red caps and white suits of European clothing, attended, 
sitting with their guns over their shoulders. As they proceeded down 
JBarotse Valley, they were received in the same cordial manner. 

The doctor was astonished at the prodigious quantities of wild animals 
of all descriptions which he saw on this journey, and also when traversing 
the country further to the east — elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, an- 
telopes, and pigs. Frequently the beautiful springbok appeared, covering 
the plain, sometimes in sprinklings and at other times in dense crowds, as 
far as the eye could reach. 

The troops of elephants also far exceeded in numbers anything which 
he had ever before heard of or conceived. He and his men had often to 
shout to them to get out of their way, and on more than one occasion a 
herd rushed in upon the travellers, who not without difficulty made their 
escape. A number of young elephants were shot for food, their flesh 
being 'highly esteemed. To the natives the huge beasts are a great 
plague, as they break into their gardens and eat up their pumpkins and 
other produce; when disturbed they are apt to charge those interrupting 
their feast, and, following them, to demolish the huts in which they may 
have taken refuge, not unfrequently killing them in their rage. 

Resting at Sesheke, they proceeded to Linyanti, where the wagon and 
everything that had been left in it in November, 1853, ^^^ perfectly safe. 




ELEPHANT PROTECTING HER YOUNG FROM HUNTERS SPEARS. 

(135) 



136 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

A grand meeting was called, when the doctor made a report of his jour- 
ney and distributed the articles which had been sent by the governor and 
merchants of Loanda. Pitsane and others then gave an account of what 
they had seen, and, as may be supposed, nothing was lost in the descrip- 
tion. The presents afforded immense satisfaction, and on Sunday Seke- 
letu made his appearance in church dressed in the uniform which had 
been brought down for him, and which attracted every man's attention. 

The Arab, Ben Habed, and Sekeletu arranged with him to conduct 
another party with a load of ivory down to Loanda; they also consulted 
him as to the proper presents to send to the governor and merchants. 
The Makololo generally expressed great satisfaction at the route which 
had been opened up, and proposed moving to the Barotse Valley^ 
that they might be nearer the great market. The unhealthiness of the 
climate, however, was justly considered a great drawback to the scheme- 
The doctor afterwards heard that the trading party which set out reached 
Loanda in safety, and it must have been a great satisfaction to him to feel 
that he had thus opened out a way to the enterprise of these industrious- 
and intelligent people. 

The donkeys which had been brought excited much admiration, and,, 
as they were not affected by the bite of the tsetse, it was hoped that they 
might prove of great use. Their music, however, startled the inhabitants 
more than the roar of lions. 

It is not difficult to believe this statement. It is in the nature of the 
donkey to be heard even farther than he can be seen, and when he takes in 
a full breath and opens his mouth, it is not strange that those who listen 
to his bray are frightened. This animal, however, is not to be judged 
either by his looks or his voice. He is exceedingly useful, and can be 
trained to difficult service and, although he has an extraordinary temper 
and an extraordinary pair of ears, still the world is better off for the donkey. 
He should be looked at as a part of the Divine creation, and the humbler 
animals are certainly deserving of consideration for the good that they^ 
render to the human race. 

It is not customary in our country to make any great use of the don- 
key. In England, however, and on the Continent of Europe, as well as 
in other eastern countries, the peasants who are too poor to invest in 
horses can yet provide themselves with a beast of burden. All honor,, 
then to the plain, ill-tempered, serviceable, long-eared, old-fashioned don- 
key. He should never be despised after such splendid services as he has 
rendered our Tropical heroes. 



CHAPTER VII. 
ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 

Livingstone's Resolve to Reach the East Coast — A Fine Race of Negroes — One hun- 
dred and fourteen Trustworthy Men — The Brave Leaders of the Company — A 
Terrible Storm— Sailing Down the River — Far-famed Victoria Falls — Scene of 
Extreme Beauty — Ascending Clouds of Spray — Immense Baobab Tree — Strange 
Mode of Salutation — Traffic in Ivorj^ — Buffalo Brought Down with the Rifle — • 
Presents from a Peace-loving Chief — Vast Numbers of Wild Animals — Huge 
Hippopotami and their Young — How the Natives Capture Elephants — Strange 
Appearance of the Natives — Mouths like those of Ducks — Hostilities by a Village 
Chief — Remains of an Old Portuguese Settlement — The Doctor's Ox Gallops off — 
Strange Cries and Waving Fire-brands — Visit from two Old Men — American Cal- 
ico in a Far Land — Surprising Instinct of the Elephant — The Enormous Beast 
Taught to Work for his Master— A New Way of Laying Timbers — Remarkable 
Story by an English Officer — Extraordinary Sagacity of the Elephant — Dangers 
in the Path of the Expedition — Great Risk from Being Attacked by Lions — Dread- 
ful Encounter with a King of the Forest— A "Civilized Breakfast " — Kind Recep- 
tion by an English Major — Natives who Plant Gold for Seed — Tree Supposed ta 
Have Remarkable Medical Virtues — Four Years away from Cape Town — Ravages 
of Famine— A Chief who Wishes to Visit England — Seized with Insanity and Lost 
Overboard — Livingstone arrives in England. 

R. LIVINGSTONE now began to make arrangements for perform- 
ing another hazardous journey to the East Coast. In the mean 
time he was fully occupied in attending to the sick, and his other 
missionary duties. He was advised, to wait till the rains had fallen and 
cooled the ground ; and as it was near the end of September, and clouds 
were collecting, it was expected that they would soon commence. The 
heat was very great : the thermometer, even in the shade of his wagon^ 
was at ioo°, and, if unprotected, rose to iio° ; during the night it sank 
to 70°. 

Among other routes which were proposed, he selected that by the north 
bank of the Zambesi. He would, however, thus have to pass through 
territories in the possession of the Matabele, who, under their powerful 
chief, h^d driven away the Makololo, its original possessors. Notwith- 
standing this he had no fears for himself, as that chief looked upon Mr> 
Moffatt, his father-in-law, as his especial friend. A considerable district^ 
also, of the country was still inhabited by the Makololo, and by them he 
was sure to be kindly treated. The Makololo, it must be understood, are 
a mixed race, composed of tribes of Bechuanas who formerly inhabited 

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138 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the country bordering the Kalahara Desert. Their language, the Bechu- 
ana, is spoken by the upper classes of the Makololo, and into this tongue, 
by the persevering labors of Mr. Moffatt, nearly the whole of the Scrip- 
tures have been translated. The bulk of the people are negroes, and are 
an especially fine, athletic, and skilful race. 

As soon as Livingstone announced his intention of proceeding to the 
■east, numerous volunteers came forward to accompany him. From 
among them he selected a hundred and fourteen trustworthy men, and 
Sekeletu appointed two, Sekwebu and Kanyata, as leaders of the company. 
Sekwebu had been captured, when a child, from the Matabele, and his 
tribe now inhabited the country near Tete ; he had frequently travelled 
along the banks of the Zambesi, and spoke the various dialects of the 
people residing on them, and was, moreover, a man of sound judgment 
and prudence, and rendered great service to the expedition. 

A Fearful Storm. 

On the 3rd of November Livingstone, bidding farewell to his frienas at 
Linyanti, set out, accompanied by Sekeletu and two hundred followers. 
On reaching a patch of country infested by troublesome flies it became 
necessary to travel at night. A fearful storm broke forth, sometimes 
the lightning, spreading over the sky, forming eight or ten branches like 
those of a gigantic tree. At times the light was so great that the whole 
country could be distinctly seen, and in the intervals between the flashes 
it was as densely dark. The horses trembled, turning round to search for 
each other, while the thunder crashed with tremendous roars, louder than 
is heard in other regions, the rain pelting down, making the party feel 
miserably cold after the heat of the day. At length a fire, left by some 
previous travellers, appeared in the distance. The doctor's baggage 
having gone on before, he had to lie down on the cold ground, when 
Sekeletu kindly covered him with his own blanket, remaining without 
shelter himself Before parting at Sesheke, the generous chief supplied 
the doctor with twelve oxen, three accustomed to be ridden on, hoes and 
beads to purchase a canoe; an abundance of fresh butter and honey ; and, 
indeed, he did everything in his power to assist him in his journey. 

Bidding farewell to Sekeletu, the doctor and his attendants sailed down 
the river to its confluence with the Chobe. Having reached this spot, he 
prepared to strike across the country to the north-east, in order to reach 
the northern bank of the Zambesi. Before doing so, however, he deter- 
mined to visit the Victoria Falls, of which he had often heard. The 
meaning of the African name is : " Smoke does sound there," in reference 
to the vapor and noise produced by the falls. 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 139 

After twenty minutes sail from Kalai they came in sight of five columns 




GIGANTIC BAOBAB TREE AT VICTORIA FALLS. 

of vapor, appropriately called " smoke," rising at a distance of five or six 
miles off, and bending as they ascended before the wind, the tops appear- 



140 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ing to mingle with the clouds. The scene was extremely beautiful. The 
banks and the islands which appeared here and there amid the stream, 
were richly adorned with trees and shrubs of various colors, many being 
in full blossom. High above all rose. an enormous baobab-tree surrounded 
by groups of graceful palms. 

As the water was now low, they proceeded in the canoe to an island in 
the centre of the river, the further end of which extended to the edge of 
the falls. At the spot where they landed it was impossible to discover 
where the vast body of water disappeared. It seemed, suddenly to sink 
into the earth, for the opposite lip of the fissure into which it descends 
was only eighty feet distant. On peering over the precipice the doctor 
saw the stream, a thousand yards broad, leaping down a hundred feet and 
then becoming suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty 
yards, when, instead of flowing as before, it turned directly to. the right 
and went boiling and rushing amid the hills. 

The vapor which rushes up from this cauldron to the height of two or 
three hundred feet, being condensed, changes its hue to that of dark 
smoke, and then comes down in a constant shower. The chief portion 
falls on the opposite side of the fissure, where grow a number of ever- 
green trees, their leaves always wet. The walls of this gigantic crack are 
perpendicular. Altogether, Livingstone considered these falls the most 
wonderful sight he had beheld in Africa. 

Returning to Kalai the doctor and his party met Sekeletu, and, bidding 
him a final farewell, set <jjfF northwards to Lekone, through a beautiful 
country,, on the 20th of November. The further they advanced the more 
the country swarmed with inhabitants, and great numbers came to see the 
white man, invariably bringing presents of maize. 
An African Salutation. 

The natives in this region have a curious way of saluting a stranger. 
Instead of bowing they throw themselves on their backs on the ground, 
rolling from side to side and slapping the outsides of their thighs, while 
they utter the words '' Kina bomba! kma bomba/" In vain the doctor 
implored them to stop. They, imagining him pleased, only tumbled 
about more fiercely and slapped their thighs with greater vehemence. 

These villagers supplied the party abunxiantly with ground nuts, maize, 
and corn. Their chief, Monze, came one Sunday morning, wrapped in a 
large cloth, when, like his followers, he rolled himself about in the dust, 
screaming out " Kina bomba!" He had never before seen a white man, 
but had met with black native traders, who came, he said, for ivory, but 
not for slaves. His wife would have been good looking, had she not 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 



141 



followed the custom of her country by knocking out her teeth. Monze 
soon made himself at home, and presented the travellers with as much 
food as they required. 

As they advanced, the country oecame still more beautiful, abounding 
with large game. Often buffaloes were seen standing on eminences. One 
day, a buffalo was found lying down, and the doctor went to secure it for 
food. Though the animal received three balls they did not prove fatal, 
and it turned round as if to charge. The doctor and his companions 
ran for shelter to some rocks, but before they gained them, they found 
that three elephants had cut off their retreat. The enormous brutes, how- 
ever, turned off, and allowed them to gain the rocks. As the buffalo was 




CURIOUS MODE OF SALUTING A STRANGER. 

moving rapidly away the doctor tried a long shot, and, to the satisfaction 
of his followers, broke the animal's fore leg. The young men soon 
brought it to a stand, and another shot in its brain settled it. They had 
thus an abundance of food, which was shared by the villagers of the 
neighborhood. Soon afterwards an elephant was killed by his men. 

Leaving the Elephant Valley, they reached the residence of a chief 
named Semalembue, who, soon after their arrival, paid them a visit, and 
presented five or six baskets of meal and maize, and one of ground nuts, 
saying that he feared his guest would sleep the first night at his vil- 
lage hungry. The chief professed great joy at hearing the words of the 
Gospel of Peace, replying : " Now I shall cultivate largely, in the hopes 



142 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

of eating and sleeping in quiet." It is remarkable that all to whom the 
doctor spoke, eagerly caught up the idea of living in peace as the proba- 
ble effect of the Gospel. This region Sekwebu considered one of the 
best adapted for the residence of a large tribe. It was here that Sebit- 
uane formerly dwelt. 

They now crossed the Kafue by a ford. Every available spot between 
the river and hills was under cultivation. The inhabitants selected these 
positions to secure themselves and their gardens from their human enemies. 
They are also obliged to make pit-holes to protect their grounds from the 
hippopotami. These animals, not having been disturbed, were unusually 
tame, and took no notice of the travellers. A number of young ones 
were seen, not much larger than terrier dogs, sitting on the necks of their 
dams, the little saucy-looking heads cocked up between the old one's 
ears ; when older they sit more on the mother's back. Meat being 
required, a full-grown cow was shot, the flesh of which resembles pork. 
Great iN^umbers of Wild Animals. 

The party now directed their course to the Zambesi near its confluence 
with the Kafue. They enjoyed a magnificent view from the top of the 
outer range of hills. A short distance below them was the Kafue, winding 
its way over a forest-clad plain, while on the other side of the Zambesi 
lay a long range of dark hills. The plain below abounded in large game. 
Hundreds of buffalo and zebras grazed on the open spaces, and there 
stood feeding two majestic elephants, each slowly moving its proboscis. 
On passing amidst them t^e animals showed their tameness by standing 
beneath the trees, fanning themselves with their large ears. A number 
also of red-colored pigs were seen. The people having no guns, they are 
never disturbed, 

A night was spent in a huge baobab-tree, which would hold twenty 
men inside. As they moved on, a herd of buffaloes came strutting up to 
look at their oxen, and only by shooting one could they be made to retreat. 
Shortly afterwards a female elephant, with three young ones, charged 
through the centre of their extended line, when the men, throwing down 
their burdens, retreated in a great hurry, she receiving a spear for her 
temerity. 

They were made aware of their approach to the great river by the vast 
number of waterfalls which appeared. It was found to be much broader 
than above the falls : a person might attempt in vain to make his voice 
heard across it. An immense amount of animal life was seen both around 
and in it. Pursuing their down the left bank, they came opposite the 
island of Menyemakaba, which is about two miles long and a quarter 




(143) 



r44 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

broad. Besides its human population it supports a herd of sixty buffalo. 
The comparatively small space to which the animals have confined them- 
selves shows the luxuriance of the vegetation The only time that the 
natives can attack them is when the river is full and part is flooded : they 
then assail them from their canoes. 

Both buffalo and elephants are numerous. To kill them the natives 
form stages on high trees overhanging the paths by which they come 
to the water. From thence they dart down their spears, the blades of 
which are twenty inches long by two broad, when the motion of the 
handle, aided by knocking against the trees, makes fearful gashes which 
soon cause death. They form also a species of trap. A spear inserted 
in a beam of wood is suspended from the branch of a tree, to which a 
cord is attached with a latch. The cord being led along the path when 
struck by the animal's foot, the beam falls, and, the spear being poisoned, 
death shortly ensues. 

At each village they passed, two men were supplied to conduct them 
to the next, and lead them through the parts least covered with jungle. 
Female Mouths ResemTbling- tliose of Ducks. 

The villagers were busily employed in their gardens. Most of the 
men have muscular figures. Their color varies from a dark to a light 
olive. The women have the extraordinary custom of piercing the upper 
lip, and gradually enlarging the orifice till a shell can be inserted. The 
hp appears drawn out bey.ond the nose, and gives them a very ugly ap- 
pearance. As Sekwebu remarked : " These women want to make their 
mouths like those of ducks." The commonest of these rings are made 
of bamboo, but others are of ivory or metal. When the wearer tries to 
smile, the contraction of the muscles turns the ring upwards, so that its 
upper edge comes in front of the eyes, the nose appearing through the 
middle, while the whole front teeth are exposed by the motion, exhibiting 
the way in which they have been clipped to resemble the fangs of a cat 
or a crocodile. 

On their next halt Seole, the chief of the village, instead of receiving 
them in a friendly way, summoned his followers and prepared for an attack!* 
The reason was soon discovered. It appeared that an Italian, who had 
married the chief's daughter, having armed a party of fifty slaves with 
guns, had ascended the river in a canoe from Tete, and attacked several 
inhabited islands beyond Makaba, taking large numbers of prisoners and 
much ivory. As he descended again with his booty, his party was dis- 
persed and he himself was killed while attempting to escape on foot. 
Seole imagined that the doctor was another Italian. 




(10) 



(145) J 



146 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS.. 

Had not the chief with whom they had previously stayed arrived to 
explain matters, Seole might have given them much trouble. 

Mburuma, another chief of the same tribe, had laid a plan to plunder 
the party by separating them, but the doctor, suspecting treachery, kept 
his people together. They had on a previous occasion plundered a party 
of traders bringing English goods from Mozambique. 
Kuins of An Old Town. 

On the 14th of January they reached the confluence of the Loangwa 
and the Zambesi. Here the doctor discovered the ruins of a town, with 
remains of a church in its midst. The situation was well chosen, with 
lofty hills in the rear and a view of the two rivers in front. On one side 
of the church lay a broken bell, with the letters I. H. S. and a cross.. 
This he found was a Portuguese settlement called Zumbo. 

The conduct of Mburuma and his people gave Livingstone much 
anxiety, as he could not help dreading that they might attack him the 
next morning. His chief regret was that his efforts for the welfare of the 
teeming population in that great region would thus be frustrated by sav- 
ages, of whom it might be said: ''They know not what they do." He 
felt especially anxious that the elevated and healthy district which he had 
now discovered, stretching towards Tete, should become known. It was 
such a region as he had been long in quest of as a centre from which, 
missionary enterprise might be carried into the surrounding country. 

While the party were proceeding along the banks of the river, passing- 
through a dense bush, fhree buffaloes broke through their line. The 
doctor's ox galloped off, and, as he turned back, he saw one of his 
men tossed several feet in the air. On returning, to his satisfaction he 
found that the poor fellow had alighted on his face, and, although he had 
been carried twenty yards on the animal's horns, he had in no way 
suffered. On the creature's approaching him he had thrown down his 
load and stabbed it in the side, when it caught him and carried him off 
before he could escape. 

Soon after this they had evidence that they were approaching the Por- 
tuguese settlements, by meeting a person with a jacket and hat on. From 
this person, who was quite black, they learned that the Portuguese set- 
tlement of Tete was on the other bank of the river, and that the inhabi- 
tants had been engaged in war with the natives for some time past. 
This was disagreeable news, as Livingstone wished to be at peace with, 
both parties. 

As they approached the village of Mpende, that chief sent out his peo- 
ple to enquire who the travellers were. The natives, on drawing near^ 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 147 

uttered strange cries and waved some bright red substance towards them. 
Having lighted a fire, they threw some charms into it and hastened away, 
uttering frightful screams, believing that they should thus frighten the 
strangers and render them powerless. The Makololo, however, laughed 
at their threats, but the doctor, fully believing that a skirmish would take 
place, ordered an ox to be killed to feast his men, following the plan 
Sebituane employed for giving his followers courage. 

At last two old men made their appearance and enquired if the doctor 
was a Bazunga, or Portuguese. On showing his hair and white skin, 
they replied : " Ah, you must be one of the tribe that loves black men." 
I^inally the chief himself appeared, and expressed his regret that he had 
not known sooner who they were, ultimately enabling them to cross the 
river. After this they were detained for some time by the rains on the 
south bank. 

Meeting with native traders, the doctor purchased some American 
calico in order to clothe his men. It was marked " Lawrence Mills, 
Lowell," with two small tusks, an interesting fact. 

Game laws existed even in this region. His party having killed an 
elephant, he had to send back a considerable distance to give information 
to the person in charge of the district, the owner himself living near the 
Zambesi. Their messenger returned with a basket of corn, a fowl, and a 
few strings of beads, a thank-offering to them for having killed it. The 
tusk of the side on which the elephant fell belonged to the owner, while 
the upper was the prize of the sportsman. Had they begun to cut up 
the animal before receiving permission they would have lost the whole. 
The men feasted on their half of the carcass, and for two nights an 
immense number of hyaenas collected round, uttering their loud laughter. 
Wonderful Instinct of the Elephant. 

All travellers in the Tropics are surprised at the remarkable intelli- 
gence of this animal, and the varied service it can be made to render. 
An elephant can be trained almost as a child is trained, and appears to 
know quite as much. 

We have seen in some of the foregoing pages one side of the elephant's 
nature in his wild state, but it is only fair to remember his gentleness and 
friendliness in captivity, which is really voluntary, because he might with 
"a bloW of his trunk annihilate his keepers and escape to his native jungle. 
In his long life he often changes his master, but his allegiance goes too ; 
and he is devoted to each, and figures alike as porter, wood-cutter, errand- 
boy, hunter, gladiator in fights with tigers, and artillery-man. 

Says a traveller : I have seen in India, elephants let out by their owners 



148 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

as choppers, working as day-laborers ajid returning at night to sleep at 
home — that is, at their master's. These intelligent animals, armed with 
long axes, the use of which they have been taught, cut, at otherwise 
perfectly impracticable heights, the gigantic trees which are used in the 
keels of vessels, carry them to the nearest port, and deliver them to other 
elephants to pile — a feat which they accomplish with the greatest regular- 
ity and with a strength that no number of men can equal. They work 
alone, too, without any special oversight on the part of the keeper, who 
often comes but once a day to note their progress; and yet there is not a 
case on record where one of them has attempted to return to his free life 
in the forest, or rejoin his former companions enjoying themselves in the 
neighboring ravines, while he is working hard on the hills above. Indeed, 
they grow to hate their untamed cousins, and fight them — and usually 
successfully — at every opportunity, bearing them away in bondage to their 
masters. 

A Grateful Beast. 

The English have made use of their enormous strength in all the wars 
in India and, more recently, in Africa, where without them the troops 
would have been helpless to move the artillery, even the lighter pieces, 
which these dumb allies carried bravely into action on their backs, while 
their courage under fire has been attested by special mention in the re- 
ports from the English officers. One of them says : 

" In our marches across Bengal we used elephants in the baggage train, 
so well disposed to us that, without waiting for a command from the 
keeper, if a wagon stuck, one of them would hurry up, put his mighty 
shoulder to the wheel, and never rest till it was rolling on smoothly again. 
Then he would return to his own proper place and duty in the line again. 
One morning, in the press of wagons and animals, one of the elephants 
was hurt by the heavy wheel of a cart running over his foot. I happened 
to be near, and bound it up with a towel dipped in camphorated brandy, 
and tightened the bandage as well as I could, and off he limped to his 
stable. In the afternoon I went to see how he was getting on. He was 
lying on a bed of straw; he recognized me at once, and held out his 
wounded foot for me to see. I renewed the bandage each day ; and after 
that the grateful animal never passed my tent without a peculiar ciy which 
he used for that occasion alone, and when he met me he always gently rub- 
bed my back or shoulders with his trunk, uttering little sniffs of pleasure." 

Major Skinner, of the English Army, vouches for the following story, 
which shows on the part of the elephant intelligence, memory, comparison, 
judgment, and good-nature. 




(149) 



150 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Riding along a very narrow trail near Kandy, in Ceylon, where he hap- 
pened to be stationed, he heard the heavy tread of an approaching 
elephant, uttering discontented grunts which frightened his rather ner- 
vous horse, and made him rear and plunge. He says : 

" I soon saw whence these sounds proceeded. A tame elephant had 
undertaken the difficult task of transporting a long girder, resting on his 
tusks, over the narrow road. Between the trees on either side there was 
not room for this to pass, and he could only advance by turning his head 
from side to side and avoiding each tree as he went. It was a slow 
business, and no wonder he complained; but on seeing how his trumpet- 
ings frightened my horse, he ceased instantly, threw down his load, 
and pressed his huge body close up against the trees on one side of the 
road to allow us to pass. My horse trembled all over, and refused to 
move, seeing which, the elephant drew still farther back and tried to en- 
courage the coward by a gentler note. 

" Finally the latter plucked up enough heart to dash by on his way, 
when the faithful elephant resumed the laborious errand in which we had 
found him engaged. 

"This elephant had, before the campaign, been used as a watchman by 
his owner, whose estates bordered on a river. Marauders would drop 
down the stream in their craft, and rob the gardens and orchards, and be 
off again without leaving any trace of their coming than the empty trees 
and ravaged beds. Tired of losing the fruits of his labor, the owner had 
trained this elephant to perform sentinel duty along the bank ; and, when 
danger threatened, the animal would growl like a" dog, and filling his 
huge trunk with water from the stream, would play upon the rascals like 
a fire-engine, drowning them out of their boats like rats, until they were 
glad to hoist sail and make off to the best of their ability." 
How Elephants are Captured. 

The art of hunting the elephant, although of most ancient origin, is 
practiced to-day on a larger scale than ever before, because of the ser- 
vices which the English have found he can perform for them. As long 
as elephants were used simply to add splendor to the suite of a rajah, or 
dignity to one of the religious processions, it sufficed to hunt single 
animals, capturing them by a decoy elephant ridden by a native, who 
provoked and held the attention of the game, while another ran up 
behind and cleverly passed a chain around one of his legs. Bound in 
this way the elephant was sure, under the influence of starvation, and the 
example of his former companions, to yield eventually to his captors. 

Now the country is divided into "preserves," over which a royal officer 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 151 

is appointed, and immense hunting parties are made up, and whole herds 
<;aptured at once ; although it is no easy thing to take alive and 
unwounded an animal that has at once such strength and such intelli- 
gence as the elephant. It could not be done without the aid of other 
■elephants, who bring their attachment to their masters to this high point, 
•and having assisted in the capture, go still farther and instruct the cap- 
tives in their future duties. The trait of obedience is, however, rather the 
result of affection than fear, and in this regard the elephant's docility is 
more like that of the dog than of the horse. It even leads them to bear 
the pain of the worst surgical operations, like the burning out with a hot 
iron of tumors or ulcers, or the taking of the most bitter medicines at 
the hands of their " approved good masters." 

Dangers Ahead. 

Returning to our narrative, the people inhabiting the country on this 
side of the Zambesi are known as the Banyai ; their favorite weapon is a 
huge axe, which is carried over the shoulder. It is used chiefly for ham- 
stringing the elephant, in the same way as the Hamran Arab uses his 
sword. The Banyai, however, steals on the animal unawares, while the 
Hamran hunter attacks it when it is rushing in chase of one of his com- 
rades, who gallops on ahead on a well-trained steed. 

Those curious birds, the " honey guides," were very attentive to them, 
and, by their means, the Makololo obtained an abundance of honey. Of 
the wax, however, in those districts no use appears to be made. Though 
approaching the Portuguese settlement, abundance of game was still 
found. The Makololo killed six buffalo calves from among a herd which 
■was met with. 

They were warned by the natives that they ran a great risk of being 
attacked by lions when wandering on either side of the line of march in 
search of honey. One of the doctor's head men, indeed, Monahin, hav- 
ing been suddenly seized with a fit of insanity during the night, left the 
camp, and as he never returned, it was too probable that he was carried 
off by a lion. 

This shows the appalling dangers attending travel in Africa, another 
instance of which is here related. 

As the particulars were vouchsafed by spectators of the drama, it may 
be relied upon as true. A lion had been pursued, and had taken refuge 
in a patch of green reeds. This the hunting party surrounded. " We 
now," sa);s the narrator, " ranged ourselves within pistol-shot of the reeds, 
taking care to have a clear view all around us ; we then rent the air with 
deafening shouts, and pierced the brake with numerous bullets. All in, 



152 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

vain; the animal remained motionless. The fire which we had originally- 
lighted was now, however, quickly approaching the spot on which all 
eyes were fixed, and we hoped that it might effect what we had been un- 
able to accomplish, when to our great vexation and disappointment, a 
slight veering of the wind drove the flames in another direction. 

Lilon Kouted by Flames. 

" We should now have been fairly baffled if the ingenuity of a native 
had not come to our aid. Collecting a number of dry reeds, with other 
inflammable matter, and setting fire to the same, this intelligent native 
seized the fagots at one end, and, running at the top of his speed, hurled 
the whole lighted mass into the very centre of the lion's hiding-place. 
The effect was almost instantaneous, for in a very few minutes afterward 
we had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy dash through the flames. It 
had been previously agreed on that, upon his first appearance, those who 
possessed double-barreled guns should fire only one barrel, reserving the 
other for the charge should he turn upon us. The mere sight, however,, 
of the lion seemed to have frightened several of the party and their bar- 
rels were indiscriminately fired in every direction, and some even blazed 
away in the empty air. 

"On receiving our fire the animal made straight for us, on which every- 
one, with the exception of another and myself, took to his heels. The 
former gentleman, who had never seen a lion in its wild state, became so 
terrified that he was unable even to fire or to attempt to make his escape. 
He remained fixed and motionless on the spot, like one entranced. I had 
by this time taken a few steps backward, yet without ever averting my 
eyes from our foe, who, having approached to within a few paces, prepared 
himself to make the fatal spring. I had already fired when he burst out 
of his cover; but one barrel still remained to me, and seeing my friend's 
imminent danger, I no longer hesitated. Clapping the gun to my shoulder, 
I took a steady aim at the side of his head; unfortunately just as I pulled 
the trigger he made a slight movement, and the consequence was that 
instead of smashing his skull the bullet merely grazed it, passing in the 
same manner all along the left side of his body. 

In the Jaws of the Infuriated Beast. 

" Quick as thought, the enraged animal left his first intended victim,, 
and turned with a ferocious growl upon me. To escape was impossible. 
I thrust, therefore, no other resource being left me, the muzzle of my gun 
into the extended jaws opened to devour me. In a moment the weapon 
was demolished. My fate seemed inevitable, when, just at this critical 




(153) 



154 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

juncture, I was unexpectedly rescued. One of my nien fired, and broke 
the lion's shoulder. He fell, and, taking advantage of this lucky incident, 
I scampered away at full speed. But my assailant had not yet done with 
me. Despite his crippled condition he soon overtook me. At that 
moment I was looking over my shoulder, when, unhappily, a creeper caught 
my foot and I was precipitated headlong to the ground. In another in- 
stant the lion had transfixed my right foot with his murderous fangs. 
Finding, however, my left foot disengaged, I gave the brute a severe kick 
on the head, which compelled him for a few seconds to suspend his attack. 

" He next seized my left leg, on which I repeated the former dose on 
his head with my right foot; he once more, thereupon, let go his hold, 
but seized my right foot for a second time. Shortly afterward he drop- 
ped the foot and grasped my right thigh, gradually working his way up 
to my hip, where he endeavored to plant his claws. In this he partially 
succeeded, tearing, in the attempt, my trowsers and body linen, and grazing 
the skin of my body. Knowing that if he got a firm hold of me here it 
would surely cost me my life, I quickly seized him by his two ears, and, 
with a desperate effort, managed to roll him over on his side, which gave 
me a moment's respite. 

Hair-breadth !Escape from a Terrible Death. 

" He next laid hold of my left hand, which he bit through and through, 
smashing the wrist, and tearing my right hand seriously. I was now 
totally helpless, and must inevitably have fallen a speedy victim to his fury 
had not prompt assistance been at hand. In my prostrate position I ob- 
served, and a gleam of hope sprung up, my friend advancing quickly to- 
ward me. The lion saw him too, and, with one of his paws on my 
wounded thigh, throwing his ears well back, he crouched, ready to spring 
at his new assailant. Now, if my friend had fired, in my present position 
I should have run great risk of being hit by the bullet; I hallooed out to 
him, therefore, to wait until I could veer my head a little. In time I suc- 
ceeded, and the next instant I heard the click of a gun, but no report. 

" Another moment, and a well-directed ball, taking effect in his fore- 
head, laid the lion a corpse alongside my own bruised and mutilated body. 
Quick as lightning, I now sprang to my feet, and darted forward toward 
my companions, whom I saw at no great distance. Once or twice I felt 
excessively faint, but managed, nevertheless, to keep my head up. 

"iNo sooner had my companion so successfully finished the lion than he 
mounted a horse hard by, and galoped off in the direction of our camp. 
In the meantime I was lifted upon a tame ox, which was led by a man 
preceding us. At about half-way to our camp two of my men came to 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 155 

meet me, bringing with them, to refresh me, some water and a bottle of 
eau-de-cologne. A drinking-cup we had not, but the crown of a wide- 
awake hat was a good substitute for one, and I drank the mixture of the 
two Hquids greedily off A few minutes afterward we were met by some 
of the servants carrying a door. Exchanging then my ox for this more 
commodious conveyance, I was carefully borne into camp. Up to this 
time I had retained perfect self-possession, but the moment my wounds 
were washed and dressed I swooned, and for three entire weeks re- 
mained in a state of complete unconsciousness. I have since per- 
fectly recovered health, but, as you see, I am totally crippled in my left 
arm. 

" I must not omit to mention that my brave dog, although shot through 

one of his fore-legs, on seeing the lion rush upon me, came forward at 

the best of his speed, and in his turn sprang upon my grim assailant, and 

clung desperately to him until my companion's bullet put an end to the 

■ combat." 

Encounters similar to this are the fate of all travellers in some parts of 
Africa, and many were Livingstone's narrow escapes upon this journey. 

It was not till the 2nd of March that the neighborhood of Tete was 
reached. Livingstone was then so prostrated that, though only eight 
miles from it, he could proceed no further. He forwarded, however, the 
letters of recommendation he received in Angola to the commandant. The 
following morning a company of soldiers with an officer arrived, bringing 
the materials for a civilized breakfast, and a litter in which to carry him. 
He felt so greatly revived by the breakfast, that he was able to walk the 
whole way. 

He was received in the kindest way by Major Sicard, the commandant 
of Tete, who provided also lodging and provision for his men. Tete is a 
mere village, built on a slope reaching to the water, close to which the 
fort is situated. There are about thirty European houses; the rest of the 
buildings, inhabited by the natives, are of wattle and daub. 
Town Destroyed Iby Fire. 
Formerly, besides gold-dust and ivory, large quantities of grain, coffee, 
sugar, oil, and indigo were exported from Tete, but, on the establishment 
of the slave trade, the merchants found a more speedy way of becoming 
rich, by selling off their slaves, and the plantations and gold washings 
were abandoned, the laborers having been exported to the Brazils. Many 
of the white men then followed their slaves. After this a native of Goa, 
Nyaude by name, built a stockade at the confluence of the Luenya and 
Zambesi, took the commandant of Tete, who attacked him, prisoner, and 



156 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

sent his son Bonga with a force against that town and burned it. Others 
followed his example, till commerce, before rendered stagnant by the 
slave trade, was totally obstructed. 

On the north shore of the Zambesi several fine seams of coal exist, 
which Livingstone examined. The natives only collect gold from the 
neighborhood whenever they wish to purchase calico. On finding a piece 
or flake of gold, however, they bury it again, believing that it is the seed 
of gold, and, though knowing its value, prefer losing it rather than, as 
they suppose, the whole future crop. 

Livingstone found it necessary to leave most of his men here, and 
Major Sicard liberally gave them a portion of land that they might culti- 
vate it, supplying them in the mean time with corn. He also allowed the 
young men to go out and hunt elephants with his servants, that they 
might purchase goods with the ivory and dry meat, in order that they 
might take them back with them on returning to their own homes. He 
also supplied them with cloth. Sixty or seventy at once accepted his 
offer, delighted with the thoughts of engaging in so profitable an enter- 
prise. He also supplied the doctor with an outfit, refusing to take the 
payment which was offered. 

Hunters in the Bushes. 
The forests in the neighborhood abound with elephants, and the natives 
attack them in the boldest manner. Only two hunters sally forth together 
— one carrying spears, the other an axe of a peculiar shape, with a long 
handle. As soon as an elephant is discovered, the man with the spears 
creeps among the bushes ni front of it, so as to attract its attention, during 
which time the axe-man cautiously approaches from behind, and, with a 
sweep of his formidable weapon, severs the tendon of the animal's hock. 
The huge creature, now unable to move in spite of its strength and sa- 
gacity falls an easy prey to the two hunters. 

Among other valuable productions of this country is found a tree allied 
to the cinchona. The Portuguese believe that it has the same virtues as 
quinine. As soon as the doctor had recovered his strength he prepared 
to proceed down the river to Kilimane, or Quillimane, with sixteen of his 
faithful Makololo as a crew. Many of the rest were out elephant hunting, 
while others had established a brisk trade in fire-wood. Major Sicard 
lent him a boat, and sent Lieutenant Miranda to escort him to the coast. 
On their way they touched at the stockade of the rebel, Bonga, whose 
son-in-law, Manoel, received them in a friendly way. 

They next touched at Senna, which was found in a wretchedly ruinous 
condition. Here some of the Makololo accepted employment from 



ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY TO THE EAST COAST. 157 

Lieutenant Miranda to return to Tete with a load of goods. Eight 
accompanied the doctor, at their earnest request, to Quillimane. 

He reached that village on the 20th of May, when it wanted but a few 
days of being four years since he started from Cape Town. He was hos- 
pitably received by Colonel Nunes. A severe famine had existed among 
the neighboring population, and food was very scarce. He therefore 
advised his men to turn back to Tete as soon as possible, and await his 
return from England. They still earnestly wished to accompany him, as 
Sekeletu had advised them not to part with him till they had reached 
Ma-Robert, as they called Mrs. Livingstone, and brought her back with 
them. 

A K"ative Bound for Eng-land. 

With the smaller tusks he had in his possession he purchased calico 
and brass wire, which he sent back to Tete for his followers, depositing 
the remaining twenty tusks with Colonel Nunes, in order that, should he' 
be prevented from visiting the country, it might not be supposed that he 
had made away with Sekeletu's ivory. He requested Colonel Nunes, in 
case of his death, to sell the tusks and deliver the proceeds to his men, 
intending to purchase the goods ordered by Sekeletu in England with 
his own money, and, on his return, repay himself out of the price of the 
ivory. He consented, somewhat unwillingly, to take Sekwebu with him 
to England. 

After waiting about six weeks at Quillimane, the brig " Frolic " ar- 
rived, on board w^hich he embarked. A fearful sea broke over the bar, 
and the brig was rolling so much that there was great difficulty in reaching 
her deck. Poor Sekwebu looked at his friend, asking : " Is this the way 
you go ? " The doctor tried to encourage him ; but, though well ac- 
quainted with canoes, he had never seen anything like it. 

Having been three and a half years, with the exception of a short 
interval in Angola, without speaking English, and for thirteen but par- 
tially using it, the doctor found the greatest difficulty in expressing him- 
self on board the " Frolic." 

The brig sailed on the 1 2th of July for the Mauritius, which was reached 
on the 1 2th of August. Poor Sekwebu had become a favorite both with 
men and officers, and was gaining some knowledge of English, though 
all he saw had apparently affected his mind. The sight of a steamer, 
which came out to tow the brig into the harbor, so affected him that 
durine the night he became insane and threatened to throw himself into 
the water. By gentle treatment he became calmer, and Livingstone tried 
to get him on shore, but he refused to go. In the evening his malady 



158 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

returned ; and, after attempting to spear one of the crew, he leaped over- 
board and, puUing himself down by the chain cable, disappeared. The 
body of poor Sekwebu was never found. 

After remaining some time at the Mauritius, till he had recovered from - 
the effects of the African fever, our enterprising traveller sailed by way of 
the Red Sea for old England, which he reached on the 12th of December, 
1856. 

Dr. Livingstone, in the series of journeys which have been described, had 
already accomplished more than any previous traveller in Africa, besides 
having gained information of the greatest value as regards both mission- 
ary and mercantile enterprise. He had as yet, however, performed only 
a small portion of the great work his untiring zeal and energy prompted 
him to undertake. 

Livingstone's visit to England was one of great interest to himself and 
to the general public. Multitudes had followed his career in the Dark 
Continent, had journeyed with him in all his wanderings, had shared in 
imagination his sufferings and victories, and were ready to greet him 
with enthusiasm upon his return. To the Christian public the Dark 
Continent presented itself as a missionary field ; to the commercial public 
the same continent presented itself as a mart for business and a market 
for trade. Thus the interest awakened by the great explorer's discover- 
ies in the far land was almost universal. Livingstone was a renowned 
character, was invited to participate in various public meetings, was 
sought after by men of celebrity, was a kind of social lion throughout 
the country, while high hopes were entertained of future exploits, and 
free offers of support constantly poured in upon him. 

The value of his discoveries can never be estimated. It will take many- 
ages to fully understand what was attempted by this one man and what 
was achieved. He may be considered as a benefactor of his race ; while 
devoted to exploration and scientific discovery, he took a higher view of 
his mission. The fact that the benighted continent of Africa has within 
the last few years been brought into close relations with the civilized parts 
of the world will form the brightest page in modern history. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI; 

Fresh Start for a Long Exploring Tour — An English Steamer in African Waters — 
Battle between the Portuguese and a Savage Chief — Rescue of the Governor — 
The "Ma-Robert" Commences Her Voyage — Astonishment of the Natives — 
Hardships of Travelling in the Tropics — A Swift Cataract — The Murchinson 
Falls — A Chief Loses His Little Girl — Natives Obstructing the Expedition — 
Searching for a Great Lake — Pursued by a Buffalo — Trap for the Hippopota- 
mus — Failure to Recover the Lost Child — Singular Ideas of Female Beauty — Fear- 
ful Cry from the River — A Native's Deadly Combat with a Crocodile — Monsters 
Hatched from Eggs — Discovery of the Great Lake — Scarcity of Water — Return 
of the " Ma Robert "—A Conspicuous Fraud — Hostile Chief Conciliated — Abun- 
dance of Game and Numerous Lions — Sketch of the Batoka Tribe — Peculiar 
Fashion of Wearing the Hair — Masters of the Canoe — Perils among Breakers — 
Very Polite Savages — Singular Customs and Ceremonies — Fearless Hunters — Na- 
tive Belief in a Future Existence— Melodious Sounds of Music —African Poets — 
Incorrigible Liars — Put to Death for Bewitching a Chief — Gang of Cattle Steal- 
ers — Adventure with a River Horse — Man Saved on a Rock — Tropical Chame- 
leon — A Marveleous Reptile — Shifting Colors — Seized by a Crocodile — Horse and 
Rider Terribly Wounded. 

FTER spending rather more than a year in England, Dr. Living- 
stone again set out, on the loth of March 1858, on board Her 
Majesty's Ship " Pearl," at the head of a government expedition 
for the purpose of exploring the Zambesi and neighboring regions. He 
was accompanied by Dr. Kirk, his brother Charles Livingstone, and Mr. 
Thornton ; and Mr. T. Baines was appointed artist to the expedition. 

A small steamer, which, was called the " Ma-Robert," in compliment to 
Mrs. Livingstone, was provided by the government for the navigation of 
the river. The East Coast was reached in May. Running up the river 
Luawe, supposed to be a branch of the Zambesi, the " Pearl " came toan 
anchor, and the " Ma-Robert," which had been brought out in sections, 
was screwed together. The two vessels then went together in search of 
the real mouth of the river, from which Quillimane is some sixty miles 
distant, the Portuguese having concealed the real entrance, if they were 
acquainted with it, in order to deceive the English cruisers in search of 
slavers. 

The goods for the expedition brought out by the " Pearl " having been 
landed on a grassy island about forty miles from the bar, that vessel sailed 
for Ceylon, while the little " Ma- Robert" was left to pursue her course 

(159) 



160 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

alone. Her crew consisted of about a dozen Krumen and a few 
Europeans. 

At Mazaro, the mouth of a creek communicating with the QuiUimane 
or Kilimane River, the expedition heard that the Portuguese were at war 
with a half-caste named Mariano, a brother of Bonga, who had built a 
stockade near the mouth of the Shire, and held possession of all the inter- 
mediate country. He had been in the habit of sending out his armed 
bands on slave-hunting expeditions among the helpless tribes to the north- 
west, selling his victims at QuiUimane, where they were shipped as free 
emigrants to the French island of Bourbon. 

An Inhuiuaii Monster. 

As long as his robberies and murders were restricted to the natives at 
a distance, the Portuguese did not interfere, but when he began to carry 
off and murder the people near them, they thought it time to put a stop 
to his proceedings. They spoke of him as a rare monster of inhumanity. 
He frequently killed people with his own hand in order to make his name 
dreaded. Having gone down to Quillimane to arrange with the governor, 
or, in other words, to bribe him, Colonel De Silva put him in prison and 
sent him for trial to Mozambique. The war, however, was continued 
under his brother Bonga, and had stopped all trade on the river. 

The expedition witnessed a battle at Mazaro, between Bonga and the 
Portuguese, when Livingstone, landing, found himself in the sickening 
smell and among the mutilated bodies of the slain. He brought off the 
governor, who was in a feyer, the balls whistling about his head in all 
directions. The Portuguese then escaped to an island opposite Shupanga, 
where, having exhausted their ammunition, they were compelled to remain. 

There is a one-storied house at Shupanga, from which there is a mag- 
nificent view down the river. Near it is a large baobab-tree, beneath 
which, a few years later, the remains of the beloved wife of Dr. Living- 
stone were to repose. 

On the 17th of August the "Ma-Robert" commenced her voyage up 
the stream for Tete. It was soon found that her furnaces being badly 
constructed, and that from other causes she was ill-adapted for the work 
before her. She quickly, in consequence, obtained the name of the 
"Asthmatic." Senna, which was visited on the way, being situated on 
low ground, is a fever-giving place. The steamer, of course, caused 
great astonishment to the people, who assembled in crowds to witness 
her movements, whirling round their arms to show the way the paddles 
revolved. 

Tete was reached on the 8th of September. No sooner did Living- 




11 



(161) 



162 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

stone go on shore, than his Makololo rushed down to the water's edge, 
and manifested the greatest joy at seeing him. Six of the young men 
had foolishy gone off to make money by dancing before some of the 
neighboring chiefs, when they fell into the hands of Bonga, who, de- 
claring that they had brought witchcraft medicine to kill him, put them 

all to death. 

Hardsliips of Overland Travel. 

The Portuguese at this place keep numerous slaves, whom they treat 
with tolerable humanity. When they can they purchase the whole of a 
family, thus taking away the chief inducement for running off. 

The expedition having heard of the Kebrabasa Falls, steamed up the 
river to Panda Mokua, where the navigation ends, about two miles below^ 
them. Hence the party started overland, by a frightfully rough path 
among rocky hills, where no shade was to be found. At last their guides 
declared that they could go no further ; indeed, the surface of the ground 
was so hot that the soles of the Makololos' feet became blistered. The 
travellers, however, pushed on. Passing round a steep promontory, they 
beheld the river at their feet, the channel janimed in between two moun- 
tains with perpendicular sides, and less than fifty yards wide. There is a 
sloping fall of about twenty feet in height, and another at a distance of 
thirty yards above it. When, however, the river rises upwards of eighty 
feet perpendicularly, as it does in the rainy season, the cataract might be 
passed in boats. 

After returning to Tete, the steamer went up the Shire, January, 1859. 
The natives, as they passed them, collected at their villages in large num- 
bers, armed with bows and poisoned arrows, threatening to attack them. 
Livingstone, however, went on shore, and explained to the chief, Tingane, 
that they had come neither to take slaves nor to fight, but wished to open 
up a path by which his countryman could ascend to purchase their cot- 
ton. On this Tingane at once became friendly. 

Magnificent Cataract. 

Their progress was arrested, after steaming up a hundred miles in a 
straight line, although, counting the windings of the river, double that 
distance, by magnificent cataracts known to the natives as those of the 
Mamvira, but called by the expedition the Murchison Falls, Rain pre- 
vented them making observations, and they returned at a rapid rate 
down the river. 

A second trip up it was made in March of the same year. They here 
gained the friendship of Chibisa, a shrewd and intelligent chief, whose 
village was about ten miles below the cataracts. He told the doctor that 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 163 

a few years before his little daughter was kidnapped, and was now a 
slave to the padre at Tete, asking him, if possible, to ransom the child. 

From this point Drs. Livingstone and Kirk proceeded on foot in a 
northerly direction to Lake Shirwa. The natives turned out from their 
villages, sounding notes of defiance on their drums ; but the efforts to 
persuade them that their visitors came as friends were successful, and the 
lake was discovered on the i8th of April. ' From having no outlet, the 
water is brackish, with hilly islands rising out of it. The country around 
appeared very beautiful and clothed with rich vegetation, with lofty 
mountains eight thousand feet high near the eastern shore. 

They returned to Tete in June, and thence, after the steamer had been 
repaired, proceeded to the Kongone, where they received provisions from 
Her Majesty's Ship " Persian," which also took on board their Krumen, 
as they were found useless for land journeys. In their stead a crew was 
picked out from the Makololo, who soon learned to work the ship, and 
who, besides being good travellers, could cut wood and require only 
native food. 

Searching- for a Great Lake. 

Frequent showers fell on their return voyage up the Zambesi, and the 
vessel being leaky, the cabin was constantly flooded, both from above 
and below. They were visited on their way up by Paul, a relative of the 
rebel Mariano, who had just returned from Mozambique. He told them 
that the Portuguese knew nothing of the Kongone before they had dis- 
covered it, always supposing that the Zambesi entered the sea at Quilli- 
mane. A second trip up the Shire was performed in the middle of 
August, when the two doctors set out in search of Lake Nyassa, about 
which they had heard. The river, though narrow, is deeper than the 
Zambesi, and more easily navigated. 

Marks of large game were seen, and one of the Makololo, who had 
gone on shore to cut wood, was suddenly charged at by a solitary buffalo. 
He took to flight, pursued by the maddened animal, and was scarcely six 
feet before the creature when he reached the bank and sprang into the 
river. On both banks a number of hippopotamus-traps were seen. 

The animal feeds on grass alone, its enormous lip acting like a mow- 
ing machine, forming a path before it as it feeds. Over these paths the 
natives construct a trap, consisting of a heavy beam, five or six feet long, 
with a spear- head at one end, covered with poison. This weapon is hung 
to a forked pole by a rope which leads across the path, and is held by a 
catch, set free as the animal treads upon it. A hippopotamus was seen 
which, being frightened by the steamer, rushed on shore and ran imme- 



164 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

diately under one of these traps, when down came the heavy beam on 
his head. 

The leaks in the steamer increased till the cabin became scarcely hab- 
itable. The neighborhood of Chibisa's village was reached late in August. 
Failure to Recover a Kidnapped Child. 

The doctor had now to send word to the chief that his attempts to 
recover his child had failed, for, though he had offered twice the value of 
a slave, the little girl could not be found, the padre having sold her to a 
distant tribe of Bazizulu. Though this padre was better than the average, 
he appeared very indifferent about the matter. 

On the 28th of August, an expedition consisting of four whites, thirty- 
six Makololo, and two guides left the ship in hopes of discovering Lake 
Nyassa. The natives on the road were very eager to trade. As soon as 
they found that the strangers would pay for their provisions in cotton, 
cloth, women and girls were set to grind and pound meal, and the men 
and boys were seen chasing screaming fowl over the village. A head man 
brought some meal and other food for sale ; a fathom of blue cloth was 
got out, when the Makololo head man, thinking a portion was enough, 
was proceeding to tear it. On this the native remarked that it was a 
pity to cut such a nice dress for his wife, and he would rather bring more 
meal. " All right/' said the Makololo, " but look, the cloth is very wide, 
so see that the basket which carries the meal be wide too, and add a 
chicken to make the meal taste nicely." 

The highland women of^these regions all wear th.e pelele, or lip-ring, 
before described. An old chief, when asked why such things were worn, 
replied : " For beauty ; men have beards and whiskers, women have 
none. What kind of creature would a woman be without whiskers and 
without the pelele ?" 

** The Fearful Cry from the River." 

When, as they calculated, they were a day's march from Lake Nyassa, 
the chief of the village assured them positively that no lake had ever been 
heard of there, and that the river Shire stretched on, as they saw it, to a 
distance of two months, and then came out between two rocks which 
-towered to the skies. , The Makololo looked blank, and proposed return- 
ing to the ship. " Never mind," said the doctor, " we will go on and see 
.these wonderful rocks." 

Their head man, Massakasa, declared that there must be a lake, 
because it was in the white men's books, and scolded the natives for 
speaking a falsehood. They then admitted that there was a lake. , The 
chief brought them a present in the evening. Scarcely had he gone 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 



165 



when a fearful cry arose from the river ; a crocodile had carried off his 
principal wife. The Makololo, seizing their arms, rushed to the rescue ; 
but it was too late. 

Many of the natives show great courage and skill in capturing these 
formidable monsters which infest the rivers of Africa. The following 
graphic narrativ^e by a traveller connected with an exploring party in the 
Tropics relates the manner in which the natives sometimes take their 
prey. 

" You come and see Igubo kill de crocodile," I heard Timbo say to Leo 




"IGUBO PLUNGED HIS KNIFE INTO THE MONSTER's SIDE." 

and Natty. These were names of natives accompanying our expedition. 

Igubo had provided himself with a piece of one of the animals which 
he had brought home, and which had become no longer eatable. He 
had fastened it to the end of a long rope, and his sons carried it down to 
the water. Timbo and Leo, with the two boys, set off after them; and, 
taking my rifle, I followed to see what would happen. 

On reaching the river, Igubo threw in the meat as far as he could, fas- 
tening the end of the rope to the trunk of a tree. Then, on his making 
a sign to us to hide ourselves, we retired behind some bushes. In a short 
time the rope was violently tugged, and Igubo, throwing off his scanty 



166 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

garments, drew his sharp knife from its sheath, and sprang into the water. 
I could not refraim from crying out, and entreating him to come back; 
but he paid no heed to me, and swam on. 

Close Combat with a Crocodile. 

Presently he disappeared, and I felt horror-struck at the thought that 
a crocodile had seized him ; but directly afterwards the snout of the huge 
monster appeared above the water, Igubo rising at the same time directly 
behind it. The creature, instead of attempting to turn, made towards 
the bank, at a short distance off. Igubo followed ; and I saw his 
hand raised, and his dagger descend into the side of the crea- 
ture. Still the crocodile did not attempt to turn, but directly after- 
wards reaching the bank, climbed up it. Igubo followed, and again 
plunged his knife into the monster's side. Every instant I expected to 
see him seized by its terrific jaws ; but the creature seemed terror-stricken, 
and made no attemipt at defence. 

Again and again the black plunged in his knife, while the crocodile 
vainly endeavored to escape. The next instant Igubo was on its back, 
and the creature lay without moving. A few minutes only had passed. 
It opened its vast jaws, each time more languidly than before, till at 
length it sank down, and, after a few struggles, was evidently dead. 
Igubo, springing up, flourished his knife over his head in triumph. Leo, 
running to the canoe, began to launch it. We all jumped in, and pad- 
dled off to the bank, Timbo bringing the rope with him. We fastened 
it round the crocodile's neck, and towed the body in triumph to the shore, 
up which we hauled it. 

Strang-e Creatures Hatclied from Eggs. 

" Igubo say we find eggs not far off," said Timbo, as if doubting it. 

Natty and his brother, at a sign from their father, began at once 
hunting about, and in a short time called us to them. There was a large 
hole in the bank concealed by overhanging bushes. It was full of eggs, 
about the size of those of a goose. On counting them we found no less 
than sixty. The shell was white and partially elastic, both ends being 
exactly the same size. The nest was about four yards from the water. 
A pathway led up to it ; and Igubo told Timbo, that after the crocodile 
has deposited her eggs, she covers them up with about four feet of earth, 
and returns afterwards to clear it away, and to assist the young out of the 
shells. After this, she leads them to the water, where she leaves them to 
catch small fish for themselves. 

. At a little distance was another nest, from which the inmates had just 
been set free ; and on a sandbank a little way down we caught sight of a 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 167 

number of the little monsters crawling about. They appeared in no way 
-afraid of us as we approached, and Natty and his brother speared several. 
They were about ten inches long, with yellow eyes, the pupil being merely 
a perpendicular slit. They were marked with transverse stripes of pale 
green and brown, about half an inch in width. Savage little monsters 
they were, too ; for though their teeth were but partly developed, they 
turned round and bit at the weapon darted at them, uttering at the same 
time a sharp welp like that of a small puppy when it first tries to bark. 
Igubo could not say whether the mother crocodile eats up her young 
•occasionally, though, from the savage character of the creature, I should 
think it very likely that she does, if pressed by hunger. 

As it is well known, the ichneumon has the reputation on the banks 
of the Nile of killing young crocodiles ; but Igubo did not know whether 
they ever do so in his part of the world. He and his boys collected all 
the eggs they could find, declaring that they were excellent for eating. 
They however told us that they should only consume the yolk, as the 
white of the egg does not coagulate. When it is known what a vast 
:number of eggs a crocodile lays, it may be supposed that the simplest 
way of getting rid of the creatures is to destroy them before they are 
hatched. It would seem almost hopeless to attempt to exterminate them 
by killing only the old ones. However, I fancy they have a good many 
•enemies, and that a large number of the young do not grow up. 

As we were walking along the bank, we saw, close to the water, a 
young crocodile just making his way into it; and Mango, leaping down, 
<;aptured the little creature. Even then it showed its disposition by at- 
tempting to bite his fingers. On examining it, we found a portion of 
yolk almost the size of a hen's egg fastened by a membrane to the 
abdomen, which was doubtless left there as a supply of nourishment, 
to enable the creature to support existence till it was strong enough 
to catch fish for itself Igubo declared that they caught the fish by 
means of their broad scaly tails. The eggs, I should say, had a 
strong internal membrane, and a small quantity only of lime in their 
composition. 

We had some difficulty in inducing our friends to believe the account 
we gave them of Igubo's exploit. He however undertook, if they were 
not satisfied, to kill a crocodile in the same Avay another day. 
Living'stoiie Discovers Lake Nyassa. 

The expedition moving forward, on the i6th of September, 1859, the 
long-looked-for Lake Nyassa was discovered, with hills rising on both 
sides of it. Two months after this the lake was visited by Dr. Roscher, 



168 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

who was unaware of Drs. Livingstone and Kirk's discovery ; unhappily 
he was murdered on his road back towards the Rovuma. 

The travellers were now visited by the chief of a village near the con- 
fluence of the lake and the river, who invited them to form their camp 
under a magnificent banyan-tree, among the roots of which, twisted into 
the shape of a gigantic arm-chair, four of the party slept. The chief told 
them that a slave party, led by Arabs, was encamped near at hand ; and in. 
the evening a villainous set of fellows, with long muskets, brought several- 
young children for sale; but, finding that the travellers were English,, 
they decamped, showing signs of fear. The people of the Manganja 
tribe, amidst whom they were now travelling, showed much suspicion of 
their object, saying that parties had come before with the same sort of 
plausible story, and had suddenly carried off a number of their people 
To allay these suspicions, Livingstone thought it best at once to return, 
to the ship. 

Soon afterwards Dr. Kirk and Mr. Rae, the engineer, set off with 
guides to go across the country to Tete, the distance being about one 
hundred miles. From want of water they suffered greatly, while the 
tsetse infested the district. 

Livingstone had resolved to visit his old friend Sekeletu; but, finding: 
that before the new crop came in, food could not be obtained beyond the 
Kebrabasa, he returned in the " Ma- Robert" once more to the Kongone^ 
They found Major Sicard at Mazaro, he having come there with tools, 
and slaves to build a custom-house and fort. 

A Bare-faced Fraud. 

After this trip, the poor " Asthmatic " broke down completely ; she was; 
therefore laid alongside the island of Kanyimbe, opposite Tete, and placed 
under the charge of two English sailors. They were furnished with a 
supply of seeds to form a garden, both to afford them occupation and 
food. 

Active preparations were now made for the intended journey westward; 
cloth, beads, and brass wire were formed into packages, with the bearers 
name printed on each. 

The Makololos who had been employed by the expedition received 
their wages. Some of those who had remained at Tete had married^ 
and resolved to continue where they were. Others did not leave with, 
the same good will they had before exhibited, and it was doubtful, 
if attacked, whether they would not run to return to their lately formed 
friends. 

All arrangements had been concluded by the 15th of May, i860, and 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 1695 

the journey was commenced. As the Banyai, who hve on the right 
bank, were said to levy heavy fines, the party crossed over to the left. 

Livingstone was stopping near the Kebrabasa village, when a man ap- 
peared, who pretended that he was a pondoro; that is, that he could;. 
change himself into a lion whenever he chose — a statement his country- 
men fully believed. Sometimes the pondoro hunts for the benefit of the- 
villagers, when his wife takes him some medicine which enables him to 
change himself back to a man. She then announces what game has^ 
been killed, and the villagers go into the forrest to bring it home. The- 
people believe also that the souls of the departed chiefs enter into lions- 
One night, a buffalo having been killed, a lion came close to the camp,, 
when the Makololo declared that he was a pondoro, and told him that he- 
ought to be ashamed of himself for trying to steal the meat of strangers.. 
The lion, however, disregarding their addresses, only roared louder thart. 
ever, though he wisely kept outside the bright circle of the camp-fires. 
A little strychnine was placed on a piece of meat and thrown to him,, 
after which he took his departure, and was never again seen. 
A Hostile CMef Conciliated. 

Again passing Kebrabasa, the travellers enjoyed the magnificent moun- 
tain scenery in this neighborhood, and came to the conclusion that not 
only it, but the Morumbwa could, when the river rises, be passed, so as' 
to allow of a steamer being carried up to run on the upper Zambesi. 

On the 20th of June they reached the territory of the chief Mpende,,. 
who had, on Livingstone's journey to the East Coast, threatened to attack 
him. Having in the mean time heard that he belonged to a race who 
love black men, his conduct was now completely changed, and he showed 
every desire to be friendly. Game was abundant, and lions were especi- 
ally numerous. 

After visiting Zumbo, Dr. Kirk was taken dangerously ill. He got 
better on the high ground, but immediately he descended into the valleys 
he always felt chilly. In six days, however, he was himself again, and. 
able to march as well as the rest. Again abundance of honey was ob- 
tained through the means of the " honey guide." The bird never de- 
ceived them, always guiding them to a hive of bees, though sometimes. 
there was but little honey in it. On the 4th of August the expedition, 
reached Moachemba, the first of the Batoka villages, which owe allegiance 
to Sekeletu. From thence, beyond a beautiful valley, the columns of 
vapor rising from the Victoria Falls, upwards of twenty miles away^ 
could clearly be distinguished. 

At the village opposite Kalai the Malokolo head man, Mashotlane, 



170 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

paid the travellers a visit. He entered the hut where they were seated, 
a little boy carrying a three-legged stool. In a dignified way the chief 
took his seat, presenting some boiled hippopotamus meat. Having then 
taken a piece himself, he handed the rest to his followers. He had lately 
TDeen attacking the Batoka, and when the doctor represented to him the 
wrongfulness of the act he defended himself by declaring that they had 
killed some of his companions. Here also they found Pitsane, who had 
heen sent by Sekeletu to purchase horses from a band of Griquas. 

Famous Batoka Tribe. 

A description of the Batokas will be of interest in this connection. 
There are two distinct varieties ; of whom those living on low-lying sands 
5uch as the banks of the Zambesi, are very dark, while those of the higher 
-lands are light brown. Their character seems to differ with their com- 
plexions, the former variety being dull, stupid, and intractable, while the 
latter are comparatively intellectual. . 

They do not improve their personal appearance by an odd habit of 
-depriving themselves of their upper incisor teeth. The want of these 
teeth makes the corresponding incisors of the lower jaw project outward, 
-and force the lip with them ; so that even in youth they all have an 
aged expression of countenance. Knocking out these teeth is part of a 
ceremony which is practiced on both sexes when they are admitted into 
the ranks of men and women, and is probably the remains of some 
religious rite. The reason which they give is absurd enough, namely, 
that they like to resemble oxen, which have no upper incisors, and not 
to have all their teeth like zebras'. It is probable, however, that this state- 
ment may be merely intended as an evasion of questions which they think 
themselves bound to parry, but which may also have reference to the 
extreme veneration for oxen which prevails in the African's mind. 

In spite of its disfiguring effect, the custom is universal among the 
"various sub-tribes of which the Batoka are composed, and not even the 
definite commands of the chief himself, nor the threats of punishment, 
could induce the people to forego it. Girls and lads would suddenly 
make their appearance without their teeth, and no amount of questioning 
could induce them to state when, and by whom, they were knocked out. 
fourteen or fifteen is the usual age for performing the operation. 
Hair Done Up in Style. 

Their dress is a little remarkable, especially the mode in which some of 
them arrange their hair. The hair on the top of the head is drawn and 
plastered together in a circle some six or seven inches in diameter. By 
dint of careful training, and plenty of grease and other appliances, it is 




AFRICAN CHIEF WITH SHIELD AND WAR-CLUB. 



(171) 



172 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

at last formed into a cone some eight or ten inches in height, and slightly 
leaning forward. In some cases the cone is of wonderful height, the head 
man of a Batoka village wearing one which was trained into a long spike 
that projected a full yard from his head, and which must have caused 
him considerable inconvenience. In this case, evidently other materials 
were freely mixed with the hair ; and it is said that the long hair of 
various animals is often added, so as to mingle with the real growth, and 
aid in raising the edifice. Around the edges of this cone the hair is 
shaven closely, so that the appearance of the head is very remarkable, and 
somewhat ludicrous. 

One of this tribe named Mantanyani accompanied Dr. Livingstone^ 
He was a singularly skilful boatman, and managed an ordinary whaling- 
boat as easily as one of his own canoes. The ornament which he wears 
in his hair is a comb made of bamboo. It was not manufactured by him- 
self, but was taken from Shimbesi's tribe on the Shire, or Sheereh River. 
He and his companions forced the boat up the many rapids, and, on being- 
interrogated as to the danger, he said that he had no fears, for he could 
swim like a fish, and that, if by any mischance he should allow Mr. Baines 
to fall overboard and be drowned, he should never dare to show his face 
to Livingstone again. 

Mr. Baines remarks in his notes, that Mantanyani ought to have made 
a good sailor, for he was not only an adept at the management of boats^. 
but could appreciate rum as well as any British tar. It so happened that 
at night, after the day's l^pating was over, grog was served out to the men,, 
and yet for two or three nights Mantanyani would not touch it. Accord- 
ingly one night the following colloquy took place : — 

" Mantanyani, non quero grog ?" (That is, cannot you take grog ?) 

" Non quero." (I cannot.) 

" Porquoi non quero grog ?" (Why cannot you take grog ?) 

" Garaffa poco, Zambesi munta." (The bottle is little and the Zambesi 
is big.) 

The hint was taken, and rum unmixed with water was offered to Man- 
tanyani, who drank it off like a sailor. 

No Talking" nor Wliistling Allowed. 

A spirited account of the skill of the natives in managing canoes is 
given by Livingstone in " The Zambesi and its Tributaries." The canoe 
belonged to a man named Tuba-Mokoro, or the " Canoe-smasher," a 
rather ominous, but apparently undeserved title, inasmuch as he proved 
to be a most skilful and steady boatman. He seemed almost to be modest,, 
for he took no credit to himself for his management, but attributed his 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 173 

success entirely to a certain charm or medicine which he had, and which 
lie kept a profound secret. He was employed to take the party through 
the rapids to an island close to the edge of the great Smoke Sounding 
Falls, now called the Victoria Falls. This island can only be reached 
when the water happens to be very low, and, even in that case, none but 
the most experienced boatmen can venture so near to the Fall, which is 
double the depth of Niagara, and a mile in width, formed entirely by a 
"vast and sudden rift in the basaltic bed of the Zambesi. 

Before entering the race of water, we were requested not to speak, as 
our talking might diminish the value of the medicine, and no one with 
such boiling, eddying rapids before his eyes would think of disobeying 
the orders • of a " canoe-smasher." It soon became evident that there 
Avas sound sense in the request of Tuba, though the reason assigned 
-was not unlike that of the canoe man from Sesheke, who begged one of 
■our party not to whistle, because whistling made the wind come. 

It was the duty of the man at the bow to look out ahead for the proper 
course, and, when he saw a rock or a snag, to call out to the steersmaip. 
Tuba doubtless thought that talking on board might divert the attention 
of his steersman at a time when the neglect of an order, or a slight mis- 
take, would be sure to spill us all into the chafing river. There were 
places where the utmost exertions of both men had to be put forth in 
order to force the canoe to the only safe part of the rapid and to prevent 
it from sweeping broadside on, when in a twinkling we should have found 
ourselves among the plotuses and cormorants which are engaged in div- 
ing for their breakfast of small fish. 

" We Struck Hard." 

At times it seemed as if nothing could save us from dashing in our 
headlong race against the rocks, which, now that the river was low, 
jutted out of the water; but, just at the very nick of time. Tuba passed 
the word to the steersman, and then, with ready pole, turned the canoe a 
little aside, and we glided swiftly past the threatened danger. Never 
was canoe more admirably managed. Once only did the medicine seem 
to have.lost something of its efficacy. 

We were driving swiftly down, a black rock over which the white foam 
^ew lay directly in our path, the pole was planted against it as readily 
as ever, but it slipped just as Tuba put forth his strength to turn 
the bow off. We struck hard, and were half full of water in a moment. 
Tuba recovered himself as speedily, shoved off the bow, and shot the 
■canoe into a still, shallow place, to bail the water out. He gave us to 
understand that it was not the medicine which was at fault — that had lost 



174 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

none of its virtue; the accident was owing to Tuba having started with- 
out his breakfast. Need it be said that we never let Tuba go without that 
meal again. 

Among the Batokas is a body of men called in their own language 
the Go-nakeds. These men never wear an atom of any kind of clothings 
but are entirely naked, their only coat being one of red ochre. These 
Go-nakeds are rather a remarkable set of men, and why they should 
voluntarily live without clothing is not very evident. Some travellers 
think that they are a separate order among the Batoka, but this is not at 
all certain. It is not that they are devoid of vanity, for they are extremely 
fond of ornaments upon their heads, which they dress in various fantastic 
ways. The conical style has already been mentioned, but. they have 
many other fashions. One of their favorite modes is, to plait a fillet of 
bark, some two inches wide, and tie it round the head in diadem fashion. 
They then rub grease and red ochre plentifully into the hair, and fasten 
it to the fillet, which it completely covers. The head being then shaved 
as far as the edge of the fillet, the native looks as if he were wearing a 
red, polished forage-cap. 

Rings of iron wire and beads are worn round the arms ; and a fash- 
ionable member of this order thinks himself scarcely fit for society unless 
he carries a pipe and a small pair of iron tongs, with which to lift a coal 
from the fire and kindle his pipe, the stem of which is often ornamented 
by being bound with polished iron wire. 

^ery Polite Savag-es. 

The Go-nakeds seem to be as devoid of the sense of shame as their 
bodies are of covering. They could not in the least be made to see that 
they ought to wear clothing, and quite laughed at the absurdity of such 
an idea ; evidently looking on a proposal to wear clothing much as we 
should entertain a request to dress ourselves in plate armor. 

The pipe is in constant requisition among these men, who are seldom 
seen without a pipe in their mouths, and never without it in their posses- 
sion. Yet, whenever they came into the presence of their white visitors, 
they always asked permission before lighting their pipes, an innate 
politeness being strong within them. Their tobacco is exceedingly 
powerful, and on that account is much valued by other tribes, who will 
travel great distances to purchase it from the Batoka. It is also very 
cheap, a few beads purchasing a sufficient quantity to last even these 
inveterate smokers for six months. 

Their mode of smoking is very peculiar. They first take a whiff after 
the usual manner, and puff out the smoke. But, when they have expelled 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 175. 

nearly the whole of the smoke, they make a kind of catch at the last 
tiny wreath, and swallow it. This they are pleased to consider the very^ 
•essence or spirit of the tobacco, which is lost if the smoke is exhaled ini 
the usual manner. 

The Batoka are a polite people in their way, though they have rather 
an odd method of expressing their feelings. The ordinary mode of sal- 
utation is for the women to clap their hands and produce that undulating 
sound which has already been mentioned, and for the men to stoop and; 
clap their hands on their hips. But, when they wish to be especially 
respectful, they have another mode of salutation. They throw them- 
selves on their backs, and roll from side to side, slapping the outside 
of their thighs vigorously, and calling out " Kina-bomba ! kina-bomba !"^ 
with great energy, which has already been described. Livingstone says,, 
that he never could accustom his eyes to like the spectacle of great naked 
men wallowing on their backs and slapping themselves, and tried to stop 
them. They, however, always thought that he was not satisfied with the 
heartiness of their reception, and so rolled about and slapped themselves, 
all the more vigorously. This rolling and slapping seems to be reserved 
for the w^elcoming of great men, and, of course, whenever the Batoka 
present themselves before their chief, the performance is doubly vigorous^ 
Blacks who Stand on Ceremony. 

When a gift is presented, it is etiquette for the donor to hold the present 
in one hand, and to slap the thigh with the other, as he approaches the 
person to whom he is about to give it. He then delivers the gift, claps- 
his hands together, sits down, and then strikes his thighs with both hands. 
The same formalities are observed when a return gift is presented; and so 
tenacious are they of this branch of etiquette, that it is taught regularly 
to children by their parents. 

They are an industrious people, cultivating wonderfully large tracts of 
land with the simple but effective hoe of their country. With this hoe, 
which looks something like a large adze, they not only break up the 
ground, but perform other tasks of less importance, such as smoothing 
the earth as a foundation for their beds. Some of these fields are so large, 
that the traveller may walk for hours through the native corn, and scarce- 
ly come upon an uncultivated spot. The quantity of corn which is grown 
is very large, and the natives make such numbers of granaries, that their 
villages seem to be far more populous than is really the case. Plenty, in 
consequence, reigns among this people. But it is a rather remarkable 
fact that, in spite of the vast quantities of grain, which they produce, they 
cannot keep it in store. 



176 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The corn has too many enemies. In the first place, the neighboring- 
tribes are apt to send out maurading parties, who prefer steaHng the corn 
which their industrious neighbors have grown and stored to cultivating 
the ground for themselves. Mice, too, are very injurious to the corn. 
But against these two enemies the Batoka can tolerably guard, by tying 
up quantities of corn in bundles of grass, plastering them over with clay, 
and hiding them in the low sand islands left by the subsiding waters of 

the Zambesi. 

Destructive Insects. 

But the worst of all enemies is the native weevil, an insect so small that 
Tio precautions are available against its ravages, and which, as we too 
often find in this country, destoys an enormous amount of corn in a very 
;short time. It is impossible for the Batoka to preserve their corn more 
than a year, and it is as much as they can do to make it last until the 
next crop is ready. 

As therefore, the whole of the annual crop must be consumed by them- 
"selves or the weevil, they prefer the former, and what they cannot eat 
they make into beer, which they brew in large quantities, and drink 
^abundantly ; yet they seldom, if ever, intoxicate themselves, in spite of 
the quantities which they consume. This beer is called by them either 
■** boala " or " pombe," just as we speak of beer or ale ; and it is sweet in 
flavor, with just enough acidity to render it agreeable. Even travellers 
soon come to like it, and its effect on the natives is to make them plump 
.and well nourished. The.Batoka do not content themselves with simply 
^growing corn and vegetables, but even plant fruit and oil-bearing trees — 
-a practice which is not found among the other tribes. 

Possibly on account of the plenty with which their land is blessed, 
they are a most hospitable race of men, always glad to see guests, and 
receiving them in the kindest manner. If a traveller passes through a 
village, he is continually hailed from the various huts with invitations to 
eat and drink, while the men welcome the visitor by clapping their hands, 
and the women by " lullilooing." They even feel pained if the stranger 
passes through the village without being entertained. When he halts in 
a village for the night, the inhabitants turn out to make him conifortable ; 
some running to fetch fire-wood, others bringing jars of water, while 
some engage themselves in preparing the bed, and erecting a fence to 
keep off the wind. 

Brave Hunters. 

They are skilful and fearless hunters, and are not afraid even of the 
-elephant or buffalo, going up closely to these formidable animals, and 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 177 

Icilling them with large spears. A complete system of game-laws is in 
operation among the Batoka, not for the purpose of prohibiting the chase 
of certain game, but in order to settle the disposal of the game when 
killed. Among them, the man who inflicts the first wound on an animal 
has the right to the spoil, no matter how trifling may be the wound which 
he inflicts. In case he does not kill the animal himself, he is bound to 
give to the hunter who inflicts the fatal wound both legs of one side. 

As to the laws which regulate ordinary life, there is but little that calls 
for special notice, except a sort of ordeal for which they have a great 
veneration. This is called the ordeal of the Muave, and is analogous to 
the corsned and similar ordeals of the early ages of England. The dread 
of witchcraft is very strong here, as in other parts of Southern Africa; 
but among the Batoka the accused has the opportunity of clearing him- 
self by drinking a poisonous preparation called muave. Sometimes the 
accused dies from the draught, and in that case his guilt is clear ; but in 
others the poison acts as an emetic, which is supposed to prove his 
innocence, the poison finding no congenial evil in the body, and therefore 
being rejected. 

No one seems to be free from such an accusation, as is clear from Living- 
stone's account. Near the confluence of the Kapoe the Mambo, or chief, 
with some of his head-men, came to our sleeping-place with a present, 
Their foreheads were smeared with white flour, and an unusual serious- 
ness marked their demeanor. Shortly before our arrival they had been 
accused of witchcraft: conscious of innocence, they accepted the ordeal, 
and undertook to drink the poisoned muave. For this purpose they made 
a journey to the sacred hill of Nehomokela, on which repose the bodies 
of their ancestors, and, after a solemn appeal to the unseen spirit to attest 
the innocence of their children, they swallowed the muave, vomited, and 
were therefore declared not guilty. 

Belief in Future Existence. 

It is evident that they believe that the soul has a continued existence, 
and that the spirits of the departed know what those they have left be- 
hind them are doing, and are pleased or not, according as their deeds are 
good or evil. This belief is universal. The owner of a large canoe re- 
fused to sell it because it belonged to the spirit of his father, who helped 
him when he killed the hippopotamus. Another, when the bargain for 
his canoe was nearly completed, seeing a large serpent on a branch of a 
tree overhead, refused to complete the sale, alleging that this was the 
spirit of his father, come to protest against it. 

Some of the Batoka believe that a medicine should be prepared which 

12 



178 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

would cure the bite of the tsetse, that small but terrible fly which makes 
such destruction among the cattle, but has no hurtful influence on man- 
kind. This medicine was discovered by a chief, whose son Moyara^ 
showed it to Livingstone. It consisted chiefly of a plant, which was ap- 
parently new to botanical science. The root was peeled, and the peel' 
sliced and reduced to powder, together with a dozen or two of the 
tsetse themselves. The remainder of the plant is also dried. When an 
animal shows symptoms of having been bitten by the tsetse, some of the 
powder is administered to the animal, and the rest of the dried plant is- 
burned under it so as to fumigate it thoroughly. Moyara did not assert 
that the remedy was infallible, but only stated that if a herd of cattle were 
to stray into a district infested with the fly, some of them would be saved 
by the use of the medicine, whereas they would all die without it. 
Sweet Sounds of Music. 

The Batoka are fond of using a musical instrument that prevails, with 
some modifications, over a considerable portion of Central Africa. In its- 
simplest form it consists of a board, on which are fixed a number of flat 
wooden strips, which, when pressed down and suddenly released, pro- 
duce a kind of musical tone. In fact, the principle of the sansa is exactly 
that of our musical-boxes, the only difference being that the teeth, or 
keys, of our instrument are steel and that they are sounded by little pegs 
and not by the fingers. Even among this one tribe there are great dif- 
ferences in the formation of the sansa. 

The best and most elaborate form is that in which the sounding-board 
of the sansa is hollow, in order to increase the resonance; and the keys- 
are made of iron instead of wood, so that a really musical sound is pro- 
duced. Moreover, the instrument is enclosed in a hollow calabash, for 
the purpose of intensifying the sound; and both the sansa and the cala- 
bash are furnished with bits of steel and tin, which make a jingling- 
accompaniment to the music. The calabash is generally covered with 
carvings. When the sansa is used, it is held with the hollow or orna- 
mented end toward the player, and the keys are struck with the thumbs^ 
the rest of the hand being occupied in holding the instrument. 

African Poets. 

This curious instrument is used in accompanying songs. Livingstone- 
mentions that a genuine native poet attached himself to the party, and 
composed a poem in honor of the white men, singing it whenever they 
halted, and accompanying himself on the sansa. At first, as he did not 
know much about his subject, he modestly curtailed his poem, but ex- 
tended it day by day, until at last it became quite a long ode. There was 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 179 

an evident rhythm in it, each line consisting of five syllables. Another 
native poet was in the habit of solacing himself every evening with an 
extempore song, in which he enumerated everything that the white men 
had done. He was not so accomplished a poet as his brother improvisa- 
tore, and occasionally found words to fail him. However, his sansa 
helped him when he was at a loss for a word, just as the piano helps out 
an unskilled singer when at a loss for a note. 

The Batoka are remarkable for their clannish feeling ; and, when a 
large party are travelling in company, those of one tribe always keep 
together, and assist each other in every difficulty. Also, if they should 
happen to come upon a village or dwelling belonging to one of their own 
tribe, they are sure of a welcome and plentiful hospitality. 

The Batoka appear from all accounts to be rather a contentious people, 
quarrelsome at home and extending their strife to other villages. In 
domestic fights — that is in combats between inhabitants of the same 
village — the antagonists are careful not to inflict fatal injuries. But when 
village fights against village, as is sometimes the case, the loss on both 
sides may be considerable. The result of such a battle would be exceed- 
ingly disagreeable, as the two villages would always be in a state of deadly 
feud, and an inhabitant of one would not dare to go near the other. 

Clirouic Liars. 

The Batoka, however, have invented a plan by which the feud is 
stopped. When the victors have driven their opponents off the field, they 
take the body of one of the dead warriors, quarter it, and perform a series 
of ceremonies over it. This appears to be a kind of challenge that they 
are masters of the field. The conquered party acknowledge their defeat 
by sending a deputation to ask for the body of their comrade, and, when 
they receive it, they go through the same ceremonies ; after which peace 
is supposed to be restored, and the inhabitants of the villages may visit 
each other in safety = 

Livingstone's informant further said, that when a warrior had slain an 
enemy, he took the head, and placed it on an ant-hill, until all the flesh 
was taken from the bones. He then removed the lower jaw, and wore it 
as a trophy. He did not see one of these trophies worn, and evidently 
thinks that the above account may be inaccurate. Indeed, Livingstone 
expressly warns the reader against receiving with implicit belief accounts 
that are given by a native African. The dark interlocutor amiably desires 
to please, and, having no conception of truth as a principle, says exactly 
what he thinks will be most acceptable to the great white chief, on whom 
he looks as a sort of erratic supernatural being. 



180 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Ask a native whether the mountains in his own district are lofty, or 
gold is found there, and he will assuredly answer in the affirmative. So 
he will if he be asked whether unicorns live in his country, or whether 
he knows of a race of tailed men, being only anxious to please, and not 
thinking that the truth or falsehood of the answer can be of the least 
consequence. If the white sportsman shoots at an animal, and makes a 
palpable miss, his dusky attendants are sure to say that the bullet went 
through the animal's heart and that it only bounded away for a short 
distance. " He is our father," say the natives, " and he would be dis- 
pleased if we told him that he had missed." It is even worse with the 
slaves, who are often used as interpreters ; and it is hardly possible to 
induce them to interpret with any modicum of truth. 
The Expedition Halts. 

The travellers landed at the head of Garden Island, and, as the doctor 
had done before, peered over the giddy heights at the further end across 
the chasm. The measurement of the chasm was now taken ; it was 
found to be eighty yards opposite Garden Island, while the waterfall itself 
was twice the depth of that of Niagara, and the river where it went over 
the rock fully a mile wide. Charles Livingstone, who had seen Niagara, 
pronounced it inferior in magnificence to the Victoria Falls. 

The Batokas consider Garden Island and another further west as 
sacred spots, and here, in days gone by, they assembled to worship the 
Deity. 

Livingstone, on his former visit, had planted a number of orange- 
trees and seeds at Garden Island, but though a hedge had been placed 
round them, they had all been destroyed by the hippopotami. Others 
were now put in. They, as was afterwards found, shared the same 
fate. 

They now proceeded up the river, and very soon met a party from 
Sekeletu, who was now at Sesheke, and had sent to welcome them. 
Afterward they entered his town. They were requested to take up their 
quarters at the kotlar, or public meeting-place tree. During the day 
visitors continually called on them, all complaining of the misfortunes 
they had suffered. The condition of Sekeletu, however, was the most 
lamentable. He had been attacked by leprosy, and it was said that his 
fingers had become like eagles' claws, and his face so fearfully distorted 
that no one could recognize him. 

One of their head men had been put to death, it being supposed that 
he had bewitched the chief The native doctor could do nothing for 
him, but he was under the charge of an old doctress of the Manyeti 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 181 

tribe, who allowed no one to see him except his mother and uncle. He, 
however, sent for Dr. Livingstone, who gladly went to him. He and Dr. 
Kirk at once told him that the disease was most difficult to cure, and that 
he might rest assured that he had not been bewitched. They applied 
lunar caustic externally and hydrate of potash internally, with satisfactory 
results; so that in the course of a short time the poor chief's appearance 
greatly improved. 

How a Chief Thought to Get Rid of the Falls. 

Although the tribe had been suffering from famine, the chief treated 
his visitors with all the hospitality in his power. Some Benguela traders 
had come up to Sesheke, intending probably to return from the Batoka 
country to the east with slaves ; but the Makololo, however, had secured 
all the ivory in that region. As the traders found that the trade in slaves 
without ivory did not pay, they knew it would not be profitable to obtain 
them, for Sekeletu would allow no slaves to be carried through his terri- 
tory, and thus by his means an extensive slave-mart was closed. 

Sekeletu was greatly pleased with the articles the doctor brought him 
from England, and enquired whether a ship could not bring up the 
remainder of the things which had been left at Tete. On being told that 
possibly a steamer might ascend as far as Sinainanes, he enquired whether 
a cannon could not blow away the Victoria Falls, so as to enable her to 
reach Sesheke. 

The Makololo, who had been sent down to Benguela, came to pay the 
travellers a visit, dressed in v/ell-washed shirts, coats and trousers, patent 
leather boots, and brown wide-awakes on their heads. They had a long 
conversation with their men about the wonderful things they had all seen. 
Sekeletu, who took a great fancy to Dr. Kirk, offered him permission to 
select any part of the country he might choose for the establishment of 
an English colony. Indeed, there is sufficient uncultivated ground on 
the cool unpeopled highlands for a very large population. 
A Tribe of Cattle Stealers. 

The Makololo are apt to get into trouble by their propensity to steal 
cattle ; for if their marauding is sanctioned by the chief, they do not look 
upon it as dishonorable. 

The expedition left Sesheke on the 17th of September, i860, convoyed 
by Pitsane and Leshore. Pitsane was directed to form a hedge round 
the garden at the falls on his way. When navigating the river, the canoe- 
men kept close to the bank during the day for fear of being upset by the 
hippopotami, but at night, when those animals are found near the shore, 
they sailed down the middle of the stream. The canoes were wretched, 




(182) 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 3 83 

and a strong wind blew against them, but their Batoka boatmen man- 
aged them with great dexterity. Some of these men accompanied the 
expedition the whole way to the sea. 

On their passage down the river, in approaching Kariba Rapids, they 
came upon a herd of upwards of thirty hippopotami. The canoe-men 
were afraid of venturing among them, asserting that there was sure to be 
an ill-tempered one who would take a malignant pleasure in upsetting 
the canoes. Several boys on the rocks were amusing themselves by 
throwing stones at the frightened animals. One was shot, its body float- 
ing down the current. A man hailed them from the bank, advising them 
to let him pray to the Kariba gods that they might have a safe passage 
■down the rapids, for, without his assistance they would certainly be 
•drowned. Notwithstanding, having examined the falls, seeing that canoes 
might be caried down in safety, they continued their voyage. The na- 
tives were much astonished to see them pass in safety without the aid of 
the priest's intercession. 

Recovering' the Prize. 

Here they found the hippopotamus which had been shot, and, taking 
it in tow, told the villagers that if they would follow to their landing- 
place, they should have most of the meat. The crocodiles, however, 
lugged so hard at it, that they were compelled to cast it adrift and let the 
•current float it down. They recovered the hippopotamus, which was cut 
up at the place where they landed to spend the night. As soon as it was 
dark, the crocodiles attacked the portion that was left in the water, tear- 
ing away at it and lashing about fiercely with their tails. 

A day or two afterwards they encamped" near some pitfalls, in which 
several buffaloes had shortly before been caught, and one of the animals 
ihad been left. During the night the wind blew directly from the dead 
buffalo to their sleeping-place, and a hungry lion which came to feed on 
the carcass so stirred up the putrid mass and growled so loudly over his 
feast, that their slumbers were greatly disturbed. 

They reached Zumbo by the first of November. Here their men had 
a scurvy trick played them by the Banyai. The Makololo had shot a 
hippopotamus, when a number of the natives came across, pretending to 
assist them in rolling it ashore, and advised them to cast off the rope, 
saying that it was an encumbrance. All were shouting and talking, when 
suddenly the carcass disappeared in a deep hole. The Makololo jumped 
in after it, one catching the tail, another a foot, but down it M^ent, and 
they got but a lean fowl instead. It floated during the night, and was 
found about a mile below, on the bank. The Banyai, however, there 



184 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

disputed the right to it, and, rather than quarrel, the Makololo, after 
taking a small portion, wisely allowed them to remain with the rest. 
Saved by Grasping- the Rock. 

Believing that there was sufficient depth of water, they ventured doivn 
the Kebrabasa Rapids. For several miles they continued onward till, 
the river narrowing, navigation became both difficult and dangerous. 
Two canoes passed safely down the narrow channel with an ugly whirl- 
pool, caused by the water being divided by a rock in the centre. Living- 
stone's canoe came next, and while it appeared to be drifting broadside 
into the vortex, a crash was heard, and Kirk's canoe was seen dashed 
against the perpendicular rock by a sudden boiling-up of the river, which, 
occurs at regular intervals. Kirk grasped the rock and saved him- 
self, while his steersman, holding on to the same ledge, preserved the 
canoe, but all its contents were lost, including the doctor's notes of the 
journey, and botanical drawings of the fruit-trees of the»interior. After 
this the party, having had enough of navigation, performed the remainder 
of the journey on shore. 

Tete was reached on the 23d of November, the expedition having been 
absent rather more than six months. They were glad to find that the two 
English sailors were in good health, and had behaved very well; but their 
farm had been a failure. A few sheep and fowls had been left with them; 
they had purchased more of the latter, and expected to have a good 
supply of eggs, but they unfortunately also bought two monkeys, who 
ate up all their eggs. Oae night a hippopotamus destroyed their vege- 
table garden, the sheep ate up their cotton-plants, while the crocodiles 
carried off the sheep, and the natives had stolen their fowls. 

Having discovered that the natives have a mortal dread of the chame- 
leon, one of which animals they had on board, they made good use of 
their knowledge. They had learned the market price of provisions, and 
determined to pay that and no more. When the traders, therefore, de- 
manded a higher price and refused to leave the sheep till it was paid, the 
chameleon was instantly brought out of the cabin, when the natives sprang 
overboard, and made no further attempt to impose upon them. A re- 
markable reptile this is, and we subjoin an accurate description of it. 
The Famous Chameleon. 

One character of the chameleon consists in the tongue being cylindri- 
cal, worm-like, capable of being greatly elongated, and terminating in sl 
fleshy tubercle, lubricated with a viscid saliva. Another appears in the 
surface of the skin being covered with horny granules, instead of scales. 
A third is seen in the deep and compressed form of the body, which is 






^x^ 








LONG-TONGUED AFRICAN CHAMELEON. 



(185) 



186 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

surmounted by an acute dorsal ridge ; a fourth, in the tail being round, 
tapering, and capable of grasping ; and a fifth, in the parrot-like structure 
of the feet, which have each five toes, divided into two opposing sets — 
three being placed outwardly and two inwardly, connected together as 
iar as the second joint, and armed with five sharp claws. 

The head of these animals is very large; and from the shortness of the 
neck, it seems as if set upon the shoulders. The upper part generally 
presents an elevated central crust ; and a ridged arch is over each orbit 
to the muzzle. The internal organ of hearing is entirely concealed. The 
mouth is very wide ; the teeth are sharp, small, and three-lobed. The 
whole of the ball of each eye, except the pupil, is covered with skin, and 
ibrms a single circular eyelid, with a central orifice. The furrow between 
the ball of the eye and the edge of the orbit is very deep ; and the eye- 
lid, closely attached to the ball, moves as it moves. As each eye has an 
independent power of motion, the axis of one eye may be seen directly 
upwards or backwards, while that of the other is in a contrary direction 
.:giving to the creature a strange and most ludicrous appearance. 

The chameleon was once said to live on air ; but insects, slugs, and 

such like creatures form its food. For their seizure its tongue is especially 

adapted. With the exception of the fleshy tubercle forming its tip, it 

consists of a hollow tube, which, when withdrawn into the throat, is 

folded in upon itself, somewhat in the way in which a pocket telescope is 

shut up. When fully protruded, it reaches to a distance at least equal to 

the chameleon's body; and is launched forth and retracted with equal 

rapidity. An insect on a leaf at an apparently hopeless distance, or a 

drop of water on a twig, is gone so instantaneously, that the spectator is 

astonished. " I never knew," said an acute observer, " a chameleon I 

long kept miss his aim but once, and then the fly was on the other side 

of the glass." 

Curious Shifting Colors. 

The remote cause, says Weissenborn, of the difference of color in the 
two latteral halves of the chameleon may, in most cases, be distinctly 
referred to the manner in which the light acts upon the animal. 
The statement of Murray, that the side turned towards the light is always 
of a darker color, is perfectly true. This rule holds good as well with 
reference to the direct and diffused light of the sun, or moon, as to 
artificial light. Even when the animal was moving in the walks of my 
garden, and happened to come near enough to the border to be shaded 
lay the box edging, that side (so shaded) would instantly become less 
<darkly colored than the other. Now, as the light in these cases seldom 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 187 

illumines exactly one lateral half of the animal in a more powerful manner 
than the other, and as the middle line is constantly the line of demarca- 
tion between the two different shades of color, we must evidently refer 
the different effects to two different centres, from which the nervous cur- 
rents can only radiate. 

Over these centres, without doubt, the organ of vision immediately pre- 
sides; and, indeed, we ought not to wonder that the action of light has 
such powerful effects on the highly irritable organization of the chameleon, 
•considering that the eye is most highly developed. The lungs are but 
secondarily affected ; but they are likewise more strongly excited on the 
darker side, which is constantly more convex than the other. 
An Animal Like Two Glued Together. 

Notwithstanding the strictly symmetrical structure of the chameleon, 
as to its two halves, the eyes move independently of each other, and con- 
"vey different impressions to their respective centres of perception. The 
consequence is that, when the animal is agitated, its movements appear 
like those of two animals glued together. Each half wishes to move its 
-own way, and there is no concordance of action. The chameleon, there- 
fore, is not able to swim, like other animals: it is so frightened, if put into 
water, that the faculty of concentration is lost, and it tumbles about as if 
in a state of intoxication. On the other hand, when the creature is undis- 
turbed, the eye which receives the strongest impression propagates it to 
the common centre, and prevails upon the other eye to follow that impres- 
sion, and directs itself to the same object. The chameleon, moreover, may 
be asleep on one side and awake on the other. When cautiously approach- 
ing a specimen at night, with a candle, so as not to awaken the whole 
animal, by the shaking of the room, the eye turned towards the flame 
will open, and begin to move, and the corresponding side to change 
•color ; whereas the other side will remain for several seconds longer in 
its torpid and unchangeable state, with its eye shut. 

It was this singular creature that produced such an effect upon the 
natives. It was regarded as something supernatural. 

Livingstone found that the sailors at Tete had performed a gallant act. 
They were aroused one night by a fearful shriek, when they immediately 
pushed off in their boat, supposing, as was found to be the case, that a 
•crocodile had cought a woman and %yas dragging her across a shallow 
bank. Before they reached her, the reptile snapped off her leg. They 
carried her on board, bandaged up her limb, bestowed Jack's usual 
remedy for all complaints, a glass of grog, on her, and carried her to a 
hut in the village. Next morning they found the bandages torn off and 



188 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



the poor creature left to die, their opinion being that it had been done 
by her master, to whom, as she had lost a leg, she would be of no further 
use, and he did not wish the expense of keeping her. 

The following account is taken from the diary of an explorer in the 
Kafifir country: " Yesterday, as the men were digging out the steamers, 
which had become jammed by the floating rafts, they felt something ^ 
struggling beneath their feet. They immediately scrambled away in time 
to avoid the large head of a crocodile that broke its way through the 
tangled mass in which it had been jammed and held prisoner by the rafts. 
The black soldiers, armed with swords and bill-hooks, immediately 




INSTANTLY HE WAS DRAGGED FROM THE SADDLE 



attacked the crocodile, who, although freed from imprisonment, had not 
exactly fallen into the hands of the Humane Society. He was quickly dis- 
patched, and that evening his flesh gladdened the cooking-pots of the party. 
" I was amused with the account of this adventure given by various 
officers who were eye-witnesses. One stated, in reply to my question as 
to the length of the animal, ' Well, sir, I should not like to exaggerate^ 
but I should say it was forty-five feet long from snout to tail ! ' Another 
witness declarer^ it to be at least twenty feet ; but if one were seized by 
such a creature he would be disposed to think that, whatever might be 
its length, it is made up mostly of jaws." 



AFLOAT ON THE RIVER ZAMBESI. 189 

From the graphic narrative of Mr. Grout, the missionary, we take the 
following description of an exciting adventure: 

Mr. Butler, a member of our mission, narrowly escaped from one of the 
savage creatures with which the rivers abound. In going to one of the 
stations, it was necessary for him to cross the Umkomazi. No natives 
being at hand to manage the boat, he ventured to cross on horseback, 
though the water was deep and turbid. As he went over safely, when he 
returned the next day he again ventured into the river in the same way. 
When about two-thirds of the was across, his horse suddenly kicked 
and plunged, as if to disengage himself from his rider; and the next 
moment an alligator seized Mr. Butler's leg with his horrible jaws. 
The river at this place is about one hundred and fifty yards, wide, if 
measured at right angles to the current ; but from the place we enter to 
the place we go out, the distance is three times as great. The water at 
liigh tide, when the river is not swollen, is from four to eight or ten 
feet deep. On each side the banks are skirted with high grass and reeds. 

Mr. Butler, when he felt the sharp teeth of the crocodile, clung to, the 
mane of his horse with a death-hold. Instantly he was dragged from 
the saddle : and both he and the horse were floundering in water, often 
dragged entirely under, and rapidly going down stream. At first the 
alligator drew them again to the middle of the river ; but at last the horse 
gained shallow water, and approached the shore. As soon as he was 
within reach, natives ran to his assistance, and beat off the crocodile with 
spears and clubs. 

Horse and Rider Frightfully Mangled. 

Mr. Butler was pierced with five deep gashes, and had lost much 
blood. He left all his garments, except shirt and coat, on the opposite 
shore with a native who was to follow him ; but when the struggle 
commenced, the native returned, and would not venture into the water 
again. It was now dark ; and, without garments and weak from loss 
of blood, he had seven miles to ride before he could reach the station of 
a brother missionary. He borrowed a blanket of a native ; and after two 
hours succeded in reaching the station, more dead than alive. 

His horse also was terribly mangled ; a foot square of the flesh and 
skin was torn from his flanks. The animal, it is supposed, first seized 
the horse ; and when shaken ofl", he caught Mr. Butler, first below the 
knee, and then in the thigh, making five or six wounds, from two to four 
inches long, and from one-half to two and a half inches wide. After a 
severe illness, Mr. Butler recovered, but will not soon lose the marks of 
this fast and loving friend's hold upon him. 




CHAPTER IX. 
BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 

Setting Out in a Leaky Vessel — A Losing Adventure — Bishop Mackenzie's Arrival — 
The " Pioneer" gets Aground— Description of a Well-known tribe — Farming in 
Africa— Generous Hospitality — Remarkable Costumes — Elegant Tattooing — 
Natives that Seldom Wash — An African Dancing Party — Belief in Visits from. 
Departed Spirits — Burning Villages — Battle wilh Ajawa Warriors— Transporting 
the Boats Overland — Sudden and Terrific Storm — Air Thick with Midges- 
Enormous Crocodiles — Camp Plundered by Thieves — Dangers Thicken — The 
Expedition on its Return— Mrs. Livingstone's Arrival — Deaths of Bishop Mac- 
kenzie and Mrs. Livingstone — Lonely Graves in a Strange Land — Bullets and 
Poisoned Arrowsr-Immense Flocks of Beautiful Birds — The Fiery Flamingo — 
Wine from the Palm — A Bird's Extraordinary Nest— Odd Specimen of the Monkey 
Tribes — Deserted Country — Lord Russell Recalls the Expedition — Alarm from 
Savage Invaders — The " Pioneer" Disabled— Livingstone at Bombay. 

NCE more, in December, the leaky " Asthmatic " was got under 
way, but every day fresh misfortunes happened to her, till Rae 
declared : " She cannot be any worse than she is, sir." 

He and his mate, Hutchings, had done their best to patch her 
up, but her condition was past their skill. She soon grounded on a sand- 
bank and filled. The river rising, all that was visible the next day was 
about six feet of her two masts. The property on board was, however^ 
saved, and the expedition spent their Christmas of 1 860 encamped on the 
island of Chimba. 

Canoes having been procured, they reached Senna late in the month. 
They here saw a large party of slaves belonging to the comniandant, who 
had been up to trade with Mozelekatse, carrying a thousand muskets 
and a large quantity of gunpowder, and bringing back ivory, ostrich 
feathers, a thousand sheep and goats, and thirty head of fine cattle, and 
in addition a splendid white bull, to show that he and the traders parted 
friends. The adventure, however, was a losing one to the poor com- 
mandant : a fire had broken out in the camp, and the ostrich feathers had 
been burned ; the cattle had died from the bite of the tsetse, as had the 
white bull, and six hundred of the sheep had been eaten by the slaves, 
they thinking more of their own comfort than their master's gain. 

Proceeding down the river in boats, the expedition reached Congo 
early in January, 1861. Here a flag-staff and a custom-house (a floorless 
hut of mangrove stakes roofed with stakes) had been erected. The gar- 
(190) 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 191 

rison of the place being almost starved, the provisions of the expeditioni 
also ran short, though they obtained game in abundance. 

A Notable Arrival. 

On the last day of the month the " Pioneer," the steamer which had 
been sent to replace the "Asthmatic," appeared off the bar, but the bad 
weather prevented her entering. At the same time two men-of-war 
arrived, bringing Bishop Mackenzie at the head of the Oxford and Cam- 
bridge mission to the tribes of the Shire and Lake Nyassa, It consisted' 
of six Englishmen and five colored men from the Cape. The bishop^ 
wished at once to proceed up to Chibisa ; but the " Pioneer " was under 
orders to explore the Rovuma, and it was ultimately arranged that the 
members of the missipn should be carried, over to Johanna in the " Lyra " 
man-of-war, while the bishop himself accompanied the expedition in the 
" Pioneer." 

They had reached the mouth of the Rovuma late in February. The 
rainy season was already half over, and the river had fallen considerably. 
The scenery was superior to that on the Zambesi. Eight miles from the- 
m'outh the mangrove disappeared, and a beautiful range of well-wooded 
hills rose on either side. Unhappily fever broke out, and the navigation. 
of the " Pioneer " fell to the charge of Dr. Livingstone and his com- 
panions. The water falling rapidly, it was considered dangerous to- 
run the risk of detention in the river for a year, and the ship returned 
down to the sea. 

On their voyage back they touched at Mohilla, one of the Comoro 
Islands, and from thence went on to Johanna, where they received the 
bishop's followers, and proceeded back to the Kongone. Thence they at 
once directed their course up the Zambesi to the Shire. The " Pioneer,"" 
it was found, drew too much water for the navigation of the river, and. 
she in consequence frequently grounded. 

Among his many duties, Charles Livingstone was engaged in collecting- 
specimens of cotton, and upwards of three hundred pounds were thus 
obtained, at a price of less than two cents a pounds, which showed that 
cotton of a superior quality could be raised by native labor alone, and 
that but for the slave trade a large amount might be raised in the country^ 

Wherever they went they gained the confidence of the people, and 
hitherto the expedition had been eminently successful. At Chigunda a 
Manganja chief had invited the bishop to settle in his country near 
Magomero, adding that there was room enough for both. This sponta- 
neous invitation seemed to decide the bishop on the subject. 

The country which this tribe inhabits is well and fully watered,,. 



192 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

abounding in clear and cold streams, which do not dry up even in the 
■dry season. Pasturage is consequently abundant, and yet the people do 
aiot trouble themselves about cattle, allowing to lie unused tracts of land 
which would feed vast herds of oxen, not to mention sheep and goats. 

Their mode of government is rather curious, and yet simple. The 
country is divided into a number of districts, the head of which goes by 
the title of Rundo. A great number of villages are under the command 
of each Rundo, though each of the divisions is independent of the others, 
and they do not acknowledge one common chief or king. The chief- 
tainship is not restricted to the male sex, as in one of the districts a 
woman named Nyango was the Rundo, and exercised her authority 
judiciously, by improving the social status of the women throughout her 
'dominions. An annual tribute is paid to the Rundo by each village, 
mostly consisting of one tusk of each elephant killed, and he in return is 
Abound to assist and protect them should they be threatened or attacked. 

The Manganjas are an industrious race, being good workers in metal, 
■especially iron, growing cotton, making baskets, and cultivating the 
ground, in which occupation both sexes usually share ; and it is a pleas- 
ant thing to see men, women and children all at work together in the 
iields, with perhaps the baby lying asleep in the shadow of a bush. 

African Farmers. 

They clear the forest ground exactly as is done in America, cutting 
•down the trees with their axes, piling up the branches and trunks in 
lieaps, burning them, and §cattering the ashes over the ground by way 
of manure. The stumps are left to rot in the ground, and the corn is 
sown among them. Grass land is cleared in a different manner. The 
:grass in that land is enormously thick and long. The cultivator 
gathers a bundle into his hands, twists the ends together, and ties 
them in a knot. He then cuts the roots with his adze-like hoe, so 
as to leave the bunch of grass still standing, like a sheaf of 
wheat. When a field has been entirely cut, it looks to a stranger as if 
it were in harvest, the bundles of grass standing at intervals like the 
grain shocks. Just before the rainy season comes on, the bundles are 
fired, the ashes are roughly dug into the soil, and an abundant harvest is 
the result. 

The cotton is prepared after a very simple and slow fashion, the fibre 
being picked by hand, drawn out into a " roving," partially twisted, and 
then rolled up into a ball. It is the opinion of those who have had prac- 
tical experience of this cotton, that, if the natives could be induced to 
plant and dress it in large quantities, an enormous market might be found 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 193 

for it. The " staple," or fibre, of this cotton is not so long as that in 
-America, and has a harsh, wooly feeling in the hand. But, as it is very 
strong, and the fabrics made from it are very durable, the natives prefer 
it to the foreign plant. Almost every Manganja family of importance 
has its own little cotton patch, from half an acre to an acre in size, which 
is kept carefully tended and free from weeds. The loom in which they 
weave their simple cloth is very rude, and is one of the primitive forms 
of a weaver's apparatus. It is placed horizontally, and not vertically, 
and the weaver has to squat on the ground when engaged in his work. 
The shuttle is a mere stick, with the thread wound spirally round it, and, 
when it is passed between the cross threads of the warp, the warp is 
■beaten into its place with a flat stick. 

Unbounded Hospitality. 

They are a hospitable people, and have a well-understood code of cere- 
mony in the reception of strangers. In each village there is a spot called 
the Boala, that is, a space of about thirty or forty yards diameter, which 
is sheltered by baobab, or other spreading trees, and which is always 
kept neat and clean. This is chiefly used as a place where the basket- 
makers and others who are en'gaged in sedentary occupations can work 
in company, and also serves as a meeting-place in evenings, where they 
sing, dance, smoke, and drink beer after the toils of the day. 

As soon as a stranger enters a village, he is conducted to the Boala, 
where he takes his seat on the mats that are spread for him, and awaits 
the coming of the chief man of the village. As soon as he makes his 
appearance, his people welcome him by clapping their hands in unison, 
and continue this salutation until he has taken his seat, accompanied by 
his councillors. "Our guides," writes Livingstone, " then sit down in 
front of the chief and his councillors, and both parties lean forward, 
looking earnestly at each other. The chief repeats a word, such as 
'Ambuiata' (our father or master), or ' Moio ' (life), and all clap their 
hands. Another word is followed by two claps, a third by still more 
clapping, when each touches the ground with both hands placed together. 
Then all rise and lean forward with measured clap, and sit down again 
with clap, clap, clap, fainter and still fainter, until the last dies away, or is 
brought to an end, by a smart loud clap from the chief They keep 
perfect time in this species of court etiquette." 

This curious salutation is valued very highly, and the people are care- 
fully instructed in it from childhood. The chief guide of the stranger 
party then addresses the chief, and tells him about his visitors — who they 
are, why they have come, etc. ; and mostly does so in a kind of blank 

13 



194 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

verse — the power of improvising a poetical narrative being valued as- 
highly as the court salutations, and sedulously cultivated by all of any 
pretensions to station. It is rather amusing at first to the traveller to 
find that, if he should happen to inquire his way at a hut, his own guide 
addresses the owner of the hut in blank verse, and is answered in the 
same fashion. 

Singular Costume. 

The* dress of this tribe is rather peculiar, the head being the chief part 
of the person which is decorated. Some of the men save themselves the 
trouble of dressing their" hair by shaving it off entirely, but a greater 
number take a pride in decorating it in various ways. The head-dress 
which seems to be most admired is that in which the hair is trained to 
resemble the horns of the buffalo. This is done'by taking two pieces of 
hide while they are wet and pliable, and bending them into the required 
sh^e. When the two horns are dry and hard, they are fastened on the 
head, and the hair is trained over them, and fixed in its place by grease 
and clay. Sometimes only one horn is used, which projects immediately 
over the forehead ; but the double horn is the form which is most in. 
vogue. 

Others divide their hair into numerous tufts, and separate them by 
winding round each tuft a thin bandage, made of the inner bark of a tree, 
so that they radiate from the head in all directions, and produce an effect 
which is much valued by this simple race. Some draw the hair together 
toward the back of the»head, and train it so as to hang down their backs- 
in a shape closely resembling the pigtail which was so fashionable an 
ornament of the British sailor in Nelson's time. Others, again, allow the 
hair to grow much as nature formed it, but train it to grow in heavy 
masses all round their heads. 

The women are equally fastidious with the men, but have in addition* 
a most singular ornament called the "the pelele." This is a ring that is 
not fixed into the ear or nose, but into the upper lip, and gives to the- 
wearer an appearance that is most repulsive to an American. 

!Elaborate Tattooing-. 

In this part of the country the sub-tribes are distinguished by certain 
marks wherewith they tattoo themselves, and thereby succeed in stilL 
farther disfiguring countenances which, if allowed to remain untouched, 
would be agreeable enough. Some of them have a fashion of pricking 
holes all over their faces, and treating the wounds in such a way that,, 
when they heal, the skin is raised in little knobs, and the face looks as if 
it were covered with warts. Add to this fashion the pelele, and the 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 



195. 



reader may form an opinion of the beauty of a fashionable woman. If 
the object of fashion be to conceal age, this must be a most successful 
fashion, as it entirely destroys the lines of the countenance, and hardens 
and distorts the features to such an extent, that it is difficult to judge by 
the face whether the owner be sixteen or sixty. 

One of the women had her body most curiously adorned by tattooing, 




SPECIMEN OF ELEGANT TATTOOING. 

and, indeed, was a remarkable specimen of Manganja fashion. She had 
shaved all her head, and supplied the want of hair by a feather tuft over 
her forehead, tied on by a band. From a point on the top of her fore- 
head ran lines radiating over the cheeks as far as the ear, looking some- 
thing like the marks on a New Zealander's face. This radiating principle 
was carried out all over her body. A similar point was marked on each 
shoulder blade, from which the lines radiate down and back and over the 



196 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

shoulders, and on the lower part of the spine and on each arm were other 
patterns of a similar nature. She of course wore the pelele ; but she 
seemed ashamed of it, probably because she was a travelled woman, 
and had seen white men before. So when she was about to speak to 
them, she retired to her hut, removed the pelele, and, while speaking, 
held her hand before her mouth, so as to cpnceal the ugly aperture in 
her lip. 

Cleanliness seems to be unsuitable to the Manganja constitution. They 
could not in the least understand why travellers should wash themselves, 
and seemed to be personally ignorant of the process. One very old man, 
however, said that he did remember once to have washed himself; but 
that it was so long ago that he had quite forgotten how he felt. 

Afraid of Cold Water. 

A very amusing use was once made of this antipathy to cold water. 
One of the Manganjas took a fancy to attach himself to the expedition, 
and nothing could drive him away. He insisted on accompanying them, 
and annoyed them greatly by proclaiming in every village to which they 
came, " These people have wandered ; they do not know where they are 
going." He was driven off repeatedly ; but as soon as the march was 
resumed, there he was, with his little bag over his shoulder, ready to 
proclaim the wandering propensities of the strangers, as usual. At last 
a happy idea struck them. They threatened to take him down to the 
river and wash him ; whereupon he made off in a fright, and never made 
his appearance again. 

Perhaps in consequence of this uncleanliness, skin diseases are rife 
among the Manganjas, and appear to be equally contagious and durable; 
many persons having white blotches over their bodies, and many others 
being afflicted with a sort of leprosy, which, however, does not seem to 
trouble them particularly. Even the fowls are liable to a similar disease, 
and have their feet deformed by a thickening of the skin. 

Sobriety seems as rare with the Manganjas as cleanliness ; for they are 
notable topers, and actually contrive to intoxicate themselves on their 
native beer, a liquid of so exceedingly mild a character that nothing but 
strong determination and a capability of consuming vast quantities of 
liquid would produce the desired effect. The beer is totally unlike 
ordinary drink. In the first place, it is quite thick and opaque, and 
looks much like gruel of a pinkish hue. It is made by pounding the 
vegetating grain, mixing it with water, boiling it, and allowing it to 
ferment. When it is about two days old, it is pleasant enough, having a 
slightly sweetish-acid flavor, which has the property of immediately 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 197 

quenching thirst, and is therefore most valuable to the traveller, for 
whose refreshment the hospitable people generally produce it. 

As to themselves, there is some explanation of their intemperate 
habits. They do not possess hops, or any other substance that will pre- 
serve the beer, and in consequence they are obliged to consume the 
whole brewing within a day or two. When, therefore, a chief has a 
great brew of beer, the people assemble, and by day and night they con- 
tinue drinking, drumming, dancing, and feasting, until the whole of the 
beer is gone. Yet, probably on account of the nourishing qualities of 
the beer — which is, in fact, little more than very thin porridge — the 
excessive drinking does not seem to have any injurious effect on the 
people, many being seen who were evidently very old, and yet who had 
been accustomed to drink beer in the usual quantities. The women 
seem to appreciate the beer as well as the men, though they do not 
appear to be so liable to intoxication. Perhaps the reason for this com- 
parative temperance is, that their husbands do not give them enough of 
it. In their dispositions they seem to be lively and agreeable, and have 
a peculiarly merry laugh, which seems to proceed from the heart, and is 
not in the least like the senseless laugh of the western negro. 
People Wlio Trade Karnes. 

In this part of the country, not only among the Manganjas but in 
other tribes, the custom of changing names is prevalent, and sometimes 
leads to odd results. One day a head-man named Sininyane was called 
as usual, but made no answer; nor did a third and fourth call produce 
any result. At last one of his men replied that he was no longer Sinin- 
yane, but Moshoshama, and to that name he at once responded. It then 
turned out that he had exchanged names with a Zulu. The object of 
the exchange is, that the two persons are thenceforth bound to consider 
each other as comrades, and to give assistance in every way. If, for 
example, Sininyane had happened to travel into the country where 
Moshoshama lived, the latter was bound to treat. him like a brother. 

They seem to be an intelligent race, and to appreciate the notion of 
a Creator, and of the immortality of the soul ; but, like most African 
races, they cannot believe that the white and the black races have any- 
thing in common, or that the religion of the former can suit the latter. 
They are very ready to admit that Christianity is an admirable religion for 
white men, but will by no means be persuaded that it would be equally 
good for themselves. 

They have a hazy sort of idea of their Creator, the invisible head-chief 
of the spirits, and ground their belief in the immortality of the soul on 




(198) 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 199 

the' fact that their departed relatives come and speak to them in their 
dreams. They have the same idea of the muave poison that has ah'eady 
heen mentioned ; and so strong is their belief in its efficacy that, in a dis- 
pute, one man will challenge the other to drink muave ; and even the 
chiefs themselves will often offer to test its discriminating powers. 

When a Manganja dies, a great wailing is kept up in his house for two 
days ; his tools and weapons are broken, together with his cooking 
vessels. All food in the house is taken out and destroyed ; and even the 
beer is poured on the earth. 

The burial grounds seem to be carefully cherished — as carefully, 
indeed, as many of the churchyards in America. The graves are all 
•arranged north and south, and the sexes of the dead are marked by the 
Implements laid on the grave. These implements are always broken ; 
partly, perhaps, to signify that they can be used no more, and partly to 
save them from being stolen. Thus a broken mortar and pestle for 
pounding corn, together with the fragments of a sieve, tell that there lies 
below a woman who once had used them ; whilst a piece of a net or a 
shattered paddle are emblems of the fishermen's trade, and tell that a 
fisherman is interred below. Broken calabashes, gourds, and other 
vessels, are laid on almost every grave ; and in some instances a banana 
is planted at the head. The relatives wear a kind of mourning, consist- 
ing of narrow strips of palm leaf wound around their heads, necks, arms, 
legs, and breasts, and allowed to remain there until they drop off by decay. 

Startling ]N^ews. 

As Livingstone marched forward word was received that the Ajawa 
were near, burning villages ; and at once the doctor and his companions 
■advanced to seek an interview with these scourges of the country. On 
their way they met crowds of Manganjas flying, having left all their 
property and food behind them. Numerous fields of Indian corn were 
passed, but there was no one to reap them. All the villages were 
deserted. One, where on the previous visit a number of men had been 
seen peacefully weaving cloth, was burned, and the stores of grain 
scattered over the plain and along the paths. The smoke of burning 
villages was seen in front, and triumphant shouts, mingled with the wail 
of the Manganja women lamenting over the slain, reached their ears. 
The bishop knelt and engaged in prayer, and on rising, a long line of 
Ajawa warriors with their captives was seen. In a short time the 
travellers were surrounded, the savages shooting their poisoned arrows 
and dancing hideously. Some had muskets, but, on shots being fired at 
them, they ran ofif. 



200 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The main body in the mean time decamped with the captives, two onljr 
of whom escaped and joined their new friends. Most of the party pro- 
posed going at once to the rescue of the captive Manganja ; but this 
Livingstone opposed, beHeving that it would be better for the bishop to 
wait the effect of the check given to the slave-hunters. It was evident 
that the Ajawa were instigated by the Portuguese agents from Tete. It 
was possible that they might by persuasion be induced to follow the 
better course, but, from their long habit of slaving for the Quillimane 
market, this appeared doubtful. The bishop consulted Livingstone as to 
whether, should the Manganjas ask his assistance against the Ajawa, it 
would be his duty to give it? The reply was : "Do not interfere in 
native quarrels." 

Leaving the members of the commission encamped on a beautiful 
spot, surrounded by stately trees, near the clear little stream of Magomero,. 
the expedition returned to the ship to prepare for their journey to Lake 
Nyassa. 

A Fresh Start. 

In August, 1 86 1, the two doctors and Charles Livingstone started in a 
four-oared gig, with one white sailor and twenty Makololo, for Nyassa. 
Carriers were easily engaged to convey the boat past the forty miles of 
the Murchison Cataracts. Numberless volunteers came forward, and the 
men of one village transported it to the next. They passed the little 
Lake of Pamalombe, about ten miles long and five broad, surrounded 
thickly by papyrus. Myriads of mosquitoes showed the presence of 
malaria, and they hastened by it. 

Again launching their boat, they proceeded up the river, and entered 
the lake early in September, greatly refreshed by the cool air which came 
off its wide expanse of water. The centre appeared to be of a deep blue, 
while thie shallow water along the edge was indicated by its light green 
color. A little from the shore the water was from nine to fifteen fathoms, 
in depth, but round a grand mountain promontory no bottom could be 
obtained with their lead-line of thirty-five fathoms. The lake was esti- 
mated to be about two hundred miles long and from twenty to sixty 
broad. 

The lake appeared to be surrounded by mountains, but on the west, 
they were merely the edges of high table-land. 

It is visited by sudden and tremendous storms. One morning the sea 
suddenly rose around them, preventing them from advancing or reced- 
ing, as the tremendous surf on the beach would have knocked their light 
boat to pieces, while the waves came rolling on in threes, their crests> 




(201) 



^02 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

broken into spray. Had one of them struck the boat, nothing could 
liave saved her from being swamped. 

*' They are liost ! They are all Dead ! '* 

For six hours they remained at anchor a little from the shore, thus ex- 
posed to the fury of the gale. The crew became sea-sick and unable to 
keep the boat's head to the sea, while some of their party who had 
remained on shore watched them, the natives every moment exclaiming : 
" They are lost ! they are all dead ! " 

After this, every night they hauled the boat up on the beach ; and, 
had it not been supposed that these storms were peculiar to one season, 
they would have given the Nyassa the name of the " Lake of Storms." 

.A dense population exists on the shores of the lake, some being a tribe 
of Zulus who came from the south some years ago. They own large 
herds of cattle, and are on the increase by uniting other people to them- 
selves. The marshy spots are tenanted by flocks of ducks, geese, cranes, 
herons, and numerous other birds. The people cultivate the soil, grow- 
ing large quantities of rice, sweet potatoes, maize and millet. Those at 
the north end reap a curious harvest. Clouds of what appeared to be 
smoke rising from miles of burning grass were seen in the distance. The 
appearance was caused by countless millions of midgets. As the 
voyagers' boat passed through them, eyes and mouth had to be kept 
closed. The people collect these insects by night and boil them into 
thick cakes, to be eaten as a relish. One of these cakes, which tasted 
like salted locusts, was presented to the doctor. 

Abundance of fish were 'caught, some with nets, and others with hook 
and line. Women were seen fishing, with babies on their backs. Enor- 
mous crocodiles were seen, but, as they can obtain abundance of fish, 
they seldom attack men. When, however, its proper food is scarce, the 
crocodile, as is always the case, becomes very dangerous. 

The lake tribes appear to be open-handed , and, whenever a net was 
drawn, fish was invariably offered. On one occasion the inhabitants, on 
their arrival, took out their seine, dragged it, and made their visitors a 
present of the entire haul. The chiefs treated them also with consider- 
able kindness. One at the north of Marenga, who was living in a stock- 
ade in a forest surrounded by a wide extent of .country, which he owned, 
made them beautiful presents. The doctor admiring an iron bracelet 
studded with copper which the chief wore, he took it off and presented 
it to him, while his wife did the same with hers. 

At one place a party of thieves stole into the camp and carried off most 
of their goods, no one awaking, though their rifles and revolvers' were all 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 



203 



ready. The cloth, having been used for pillows, escaped, but nearly 
all their clothing was lost, and even their note-books and specimens. 
On the highlands, at the northern end, a tribe of Zulus, known as the 
Mazitu, make sudden swoops on the villages of the plains, and carry off 
the inhabitants and burn villages ; and putrid bodies slain by Mazitu 




GIANT HERON OF AFRICA. 

spears were seen in all directions. In consequence of this the land party, 
composed of blacks, were afraid of proceeding and Livingstone accordingly 
landed to accompany them. While he struck inland to go round a moun- 
tain, the boat pursued her course; but a fresh gale compelled her to run 
in-shore. On continuing her voyage, a number of armed Mazitu were 
seen on a small island, with several large canoes belonging to them. 



204 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

It was evident that it was a nest of lake pirates. Further on they met a 
still larger band, and the voyagers were ordered to come on shore. On 
refusing, a number of canoes chased them, one with nine paddles perse- 
vering a considerable time, till a good breeze enabled the gig to get 
away from them. This circumstance caused great anxiety about Dr. 
Livingstone. 

The boat party having sailed on for fifteen miles northward, he was 
still nowhere to be seen, and they therefore resolved to return. Another, 
gale, however, compelled them to put into a harbor, where a number of 
wretched fugitives from the slave trade, who had crossed from the oppo- 
site shore, were found ; but the ordinary inhabitants had been swept off 
by the Mazitu. In their deserted gardens cotton of a fine quality, with 
staple an inch and a half long, was seen growing, some of the plants 
deserving to be ranked with trees. 

The Way Beset with Dang-ers. 

On returning, their former pursuers tried to induce them to come on 
shore. Four days passed before Livingstone with two of his party dis- 
covered them. He had in the meantime fallen in with the Mazitu, who 
were armed with spears and shields, and their heads fantastically dressed 
with feathers. By his usual courage and determination he prevented; 
them from attacking him. When they demanded presents, he told 
them his goods were in the boat ; and when they insisted on having a 
coat, the Makololo enquired how many of the party they had killed, that 
they thus began to divide the spoil; and at last, suspecting that he had 
support at hand, they took to their heels. 

Numerous elephants, suprisingly tame, were seen on the borders of the 
lake even close to the village, and hippopotami swarmed in all the creeks 
and lagoons. Several were shot for food during the journey. Some- 
times food was thus abundant ; at others, a few sardines served for dinner. 

The doctor saw that a small armed steamer on Lake Nyassa could, by 
furnishing goods in exchange for ivory and other products, excercise a 
powerful influence in stopping the traffic in that quarter. 

The expedition had spent from the 2d of September to the 27th of 
October in exploring the lake, and their goods being now expended, it 
was necessary to return to the ship. On their way back they fell in with 
a number of Manganja families, driven from their homes by Ajawa raids, 
taking shelter among the papyrus growing on Lake Pamalombe, sup- 
porting themselves on the fine fish which abound in it. The party 
reached the ship on the 8th of November, but in a weak condition, 
having latterly suffered greatly from hunger. 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 205 

They soon received a visit from the bishop, who appeared in excellent 
spirits, and believed that all promised well for future success. He 
. arranged to explore the country from Magomero to the mouth of the 
river, and it was agreed that the " Pioneer," her draught being too great 
for the upper part of the Shire, should on her next trip not go higher 
than Ruo. 

The "Pioneer*' Aground. 

With three hearty cheers, the " Pioneer" steamed down the river. The 
rain ceasing, she unfortunately ran on a shoal, and was detained in an 
unhealthy spot for five weeks. Here the carpenter's mate, a fine healthy 
young man, was seized with fever and died. A permanent rise in the 
river enabled them at last to get on. On reaching Ruo, they heard that 
Mariano had returned from Mozambique, and was desolating the right 
bank of the river. He had lived in luxury during his nominal imprison- 
ment, and was now able to set the Portuguese at defiance. An officer 
sent against him, instead of capturing the rebel, was captured himself, but 
soon returned to Tete with a present of ivory he had received. 

The Zambesi was reached in January, 1862, when the " Pioneer" pro- 
ceeded to the Great Luabo mouth of the river. Soon Her Majesty's 
ship " Gorgon " arrived, towing the brig which brought out Mrs. Living- 
stone and some ladies about to join the University mission, as well as the 
sections of a new iron steamer intended for the navigation of Lake 
Nyassa. The name of the " Lady Nyassa" was given to the new vessel. 

The " Pioneer," with as large a portion of the vessel as she could 

carry, accompanied by two of the " Gorgon's " paddle-box boats, steamed 

off for Ruo in February. Her progress was very slow, and six months 

were expended before Shupanga was reached. Here the sections of the 

"Lady Nyassa '^ were landed, and preparations were made to screw her 

together. 

Sad Deaths. 

Captain Wilson had kindly gone on in his boat to Ruo. On reaching 
Ruo, greatly to their dismay the chief declared that no white man had 
come to his village. They thence went on to Chibisa, where the sad 
news was received of the death of the bishop. The sad tale of the 
bishop's death has often been told. He had set off in the hopes of 
rescuing some of his flock who had been kidnapped, and, undergoing 
fatigue and exposure to rain far greater than his constitution could 
stand, having been upset in a canoe and sleeping afterwards in his wet 
clothes, had succumbed to fever when returning to Ruo. 

About the middle of April Mrs. Livingstone was attacked by fever. 



206 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Notwithstanding the most skillful medical aid rendered to her, her eyes- 
were closed in death as the sun set on a Sabbath day, the 27th of April, 
1862. Her grave was placed beneath the great baobab-tree in the spot 
before described. There rested the daughter of the Missionary Moffat, 
that Christian lady who had exercised such beneficial influence over the 
rude tribes of the interior, and might, it was hoped, have renewed her 
labors in the country to which she had come. ' 

The " Lady Nyassa " was now screwed together and her stores got on 
board ; but, as she could not be taken to the cataract before the rains in 
Dec^.mber, the " Pioneer " sailed for Johanna to obtain mules and oxen 
to convey her by land, after she had been taken to pieces, above the 
falls. 

To fill up the time the doctor resolved, on the return of the " Pioneer," 
to explore the Rovuma in boats. Captain Gardner and several of his 
officers accompanied them two days in the gig and cutter. The water 
was now low ; but when filled by the rains, in many respects the Rovuma 
appears superior to the Zambesi. It would probably be valuable as a 
highway for commerce during three-fourths of each year. 

Trip up the Rovuma. 

Above Kichokomane was a fertile plain, studded with a number of de- 
serted villages. Its inhabitants were living on low sandbanks, though 
they had left their property behind, fearing only being stolen themselves. 
They showed, however, an unfriendly spirit to the white men, not under- 
standing their objects. The blacks assembled on the shore, and evidently 
intended to attack the party as they passed the high bank, but a stiff 
breeze swept the boats by. Attempts were made to persuade the natives 
that the travellers had only peaceful intentions, that they wished to be 
their friends, and that their countrymen bought cotton and ivory. Not- 
withstanding this, these savages were not satisfied, and their leader was 
seen urging them to fire. 

Many of them had muskets, while others, who were armed with bows, 
held them with arrows ready set to shoot. Still the doctor and his 
companions were exceedingly unwilling to come to blows, and half an 
hour was spent, during which, at any moment, they might have been 
struck by bullets or poisoned arrows. The English assured them that 
they had plenty of ammunition, that they did not wish to shed the blood 
of the children of the same Great Father, and that if there was a fight, 
the guilt would be theirs. At last their leader ordered them to lay down 
their arms, and he came, saying that the river was theirs, and that the 
English must pay toll for leave to pass. As it was better to do so than 



BATTLING --V^^ITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 



207 



fight, the payment demanded was given, and they promised to be friends 
ever afterwards. 

The sail was then hoisted, and the boats proceeded up, when they 
were followed by a large party, as it was supposed merely to watch therp,. 
but without a moment's warning the savages fired a volley of musket- 
balls and poisoned arrows. Providentially they were so near that six 
arrows passed over their heads, and four musket-balls alone went through 
the sail. Their assailants immediately bolted, and did not again appear 
till the boats had got to a considerable distance. A few shots were fired 




ff='A. •>.-a.«^ 



^-*=' 



THE PELICAN. 

over their heads, to give them an idea of the range of the Englishmen's 
rifles. They had probably expected to kill some of the party, and then 
in the confusion to rob the boats. 

They were more hospitably treated by a Makoa chief higher up, who 
had been to Iboe, and once to Mozambique with slaves. Ilis people 
refused to receive gaily-colored prints, having probably been deceived by 
sham ones before, preferring the plain blue stuff of which they had 
experience. Another old chief, on seeing them go by, laid down his 
gun, and when they landed approached them. 

They proceeded up the cataracts of the Rovuma, but finding that the 



208 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

distance overland was far greater to Lake Nyassa than that by Murchi- 
son's Cataracts on the Shire, they considered it best to take their steamer 
up by that route. After having been away a month, they reached the 
" Pioneer " on the 9th of October. The ship's company had used dis- 
tilled water, and not a single case of sickness had occurred on board, 
while those who had been in the boats had some slight attacks. 

After this they put to sea and visited Johanna, returning to the fever- 
haunted village of Quillimane. Here they were kindly entertained by 
one of the few honorable Portuguese officials they met with in that 
region. Colonel Nunes. He came out as a cabin-boy, and, by persevering 
energy, has become the richest man on the East Coast. 

Extraordinary Sig-lit. 

Early in January, 1863, the "Pioneer," with the "Lady Nyassa" in 
tow, steamed up the Shire. 

The Shire marshes support prodigious numbers of many kinds of 
water-fowl. An hour at the mast-head unfolded novel views of life in an 
African marsh. Near the edge, and on the branches of some favorite 
tree, rest scores of plotuses and cormorants, which stretch their snake- 
like necks and in mute amazement turn one eye and then another 
towards the approaching monster. By and by the timid ones begin to 
fly off", or take " headers " into the stream ; but a few of the bolder, or 
more composed, remain, only taking the precaution to spread their wings, 
ready for instant flight. The pretty ardetta, of a light yellow color when 
at rest, but seemingly of a pure white when flying, takes wing, and 
sweeps across the green grass in large numbers, often showing where 
buffaloes and elephants are by perching on their backs. 

Ducks are very abundant, and being night feeders, meditate quietly by 
the small lagoons until startled by the noise of the steam machinery. 
Pelicans glide over the water catching fish, while the scopus and large 
herons peer intently into pools. The large black and white spur-winged 
goose (a constant marauder of native gardens) springs up, and circles 
round to find out what the disturbance can be, and then settles down 
again with a splash. Hundreds of linongolos rise on the wing from the 
clumps of reeds, or low trees, on which they build in colonies, and are 
speedily high in mid-air. 

Charming little red and yellow weavers remind one of butterflies, as 
they fly in and out of the tall grass, or hang to the mouths of their pen- 
dant nests, chattering briskly to their mates within. Kites and vultures 
are busy overhead, viewing the ground for their repast of carrion ; and 
the solemn-looking, stately-stepping flamingoes, with a taste for dead 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 



W 



-fish or men, stalk slowly along the almost stagnant channels. Groups of. 
men and boys are searching diligently in various places for lotus and 
other roots. Some are standing in canoes, on the weed-covered ponds, 
spearing fish, while others are punting over the small intersecting, 
streams to examine their sunken fish-baskets. 







GROUP OF FLAMINGOES. 

Towards evening, hundreds of pretty little hawks are seen flying in a 
southerly direction, and feeding on dragon-flies and locusts. They come, 
apparently, from resting on the palm trees during the heat* of the day. 
JFIocks of scissor-bills are then also on the wing, and in ' search of food. 

14 



210 WONDERS. OF THE TROPICS. 

ploughing the water with their lower mandibles, which are nearly half ao 
inch longer than the upper ones. 

At the north-eastern end of the marsh, and about three miles from the 
river, commences a great forest of palm trees. It extends many miles,^ 
and at one point comes close to the river. The gray trunks and greea 
tops of this immense mass of trees give a pleasing tone of color to the 
view. The mountain range, which rises close behind the palms, is- 
generally of a cheerful green, and has many trees, with patches 
of a lighter tint among them, as if spots of land had once been, 
cultivated. The sharp angular rocks and dells on its sides have 
the appearance of a huge crystal broken ; and this is so often the 
case in Africa that one can guess pretty nearly .at sight whether 
a range is of the old crystalline rocks or not. The borassus, though not 
an oil-bearing palm, is a useful tree. The fibrous pulp round the large 
nuts is of a sweet, fruity taste, and is eaten by men and elephants. The 
natives bury the nuts until the kernels begin to sprout ; when dug up 
and broken, the inside resembles coarse potatoes, and is prized in times 
of scarcity as nutritious food. During several months of the year palm- 
wine, or sura, is obtained in large quantities ; when fresh, it is a pleasant 
drink, somewhat like champagne, and not at all intoxicating; though,, 
after standing a few hours, it becomes highly so. 
Veg-etable Champagne. 

Sticks, a foot long, are driven into notches in the hard outside of the 
tree — the inside being soft or hollow — to serve as a ladder ; the top of 
the fruit-shoot is cut off, and the sap, pouring out at the fresh wound,, 
is caught in an earthen pot, which is hung at the point. A thin 
slice is taken off the end, to open the pores and make the juice flow 
every time the owner ascends to empty the pot. Temporary huts are 
erected in the forest, and men and boys remain by their respective trees 
day and night; the nuts, fish and wine being their sole food. The Por- 
tuguese use the palm-wine as yeast, and it makes bread so light that it 
melts in the mouth like froth. 

Above the palm-trees, a succession of rich, low islands stud the river> 
Many of them are cultivated and grow maize at all times of the year. 
Some patches ripe are .seen, and others half-grown, or just sprouting out 
of the ground. The shores are adorned with rows of banana-trees, and 
the fruit is abundant and cheap. Many of the reedy banks are so inter- 
twined with convolvulus, and other creepers, as to be absolutely impene- 
trable. They are beautiful to the eye, a smooth wall of living greent 
rjsingout of the;' crystal water, and adorned with lovely flowers; but sp 




CURIOUS NEST OF THE FLAMINGO. 



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212 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

dense that, if capsized in the water, one could scarcely pass through to 
land. Probably no tropical bird is more remarkable than the famous 
flamingo. The following incident is related by one of a party of 
travellers in Africa : 

Our path led through the forest near the banks of the river, of which 
we occasionally got glimpses. It was here of considerable width, 
bordered by mangrove bushes. In one or two places there were wide 
flits covered with reeds. Suddenly, as we passed a point of the river, I 
saw drawn up what had much the appearance, at the finst glance, of a 
regiment of soldiers, with red coats and white trousers. 

I "Why, where can those men have come from?" I cried out. 

! A Beginaent of Birds. 

■One of the party, who was near me, burst into a laugh, in which his 
sifters and the boys joined. "Why, those are birds," he answered. "A 
regiment, true enough, but of flamingoes ; and see ! they are in line, and 
wiir quickly march away as we approach." 

I A second glance showed me that he was right; and a very curious 
appearance they had. " See ! there is the sentinel." 

, As he spoke, one of the birds nearest to us issued a sound like that of 
a trumpet, which was taken up by the remainder; and the whole troop, 
expanding their flaming Avings, rose with loud clamors into the air, flying 
up the stream. We went on, and cutting off a bend in the river, again 
met it; and here our bearers declared that they must stop and rest. We 
accordingly encamped, though our guide warned us that we must remain 
but a short time, as we wished to reach some higher ground before dark. 
A fire was lighted for cooking; and while our meal was preparing, I, with 
others, went down nearer the banks to see what was to be seen. We 
observed on the marshy ground a little way off a high- mound, and 
creeping along, that we might not disturb the numerous birds which 
covered the banks or sat on the trees around, we caught sight of another 
mound, with a flamingo seated on the top of it, her long legs, instead of 
being tucked up as those of most birds would have been, literally astrad- 
dle on it. 

" That is one of their nests," whispered one. "The bird is a hen sitting 
on her eggs. Depend upon it, the troop is not far off. See, see! there 
are many others along the banks. What a funny appearance they have." 
Bed. Wings Sweeping- Throug-h. the Air. 

Presently a flash of red appeared in the blue sky, and looking up, we 
saw what might be described as a gre;at fiery triangle in the air sweeping 
dow^itQ^vards us. On it came, greatly diminishing its rate, and we then 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND/ DANGERS. 



213 



saw that it was composed of flamingoes. They hovered for a moment, 
then flew round and round, following one another, and gradually 
approached the marsh, on which they alighted. Immediately they 
arranged themselves as we had before seen them, in long lines, 
when several marched off on either side to act as sentinels, while the 
rest commenced fishing. We could see them arching their necks and 
digging their long bills into the ground, while they stirred up the mud 
with their webbed feet, in order to procure the water-insects on which 




THE MARVELLOUS SPECTRAL LEMUR. 

they subsist. They, however, were not the only visitors to the river. 
The tide was low, and on every mud-bank or exposed spot countless 
numbers of birds were collected — numerous kinds of gulls, herons, and 
long-legged cranes — besides which, on the trees were perched thousands of 
white birds, looking at a distance like shining white flowers. Vast flocks 
of huge pelicans were swimming along the stream, dipping their enormous 
bills into the water, and each time bringing up a fish. They have enor- 
mous pouches, capable of containing many pounds of their finny prey. 



214 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Other forms of animal life abound in the Tropics, and not the least 
marvellous of these is the spectral lemur. 

Lemur is the name applied to about thirty species of monkeys. They 
are divided into five principal genera, inhabiting chiefly Madagascar, a 
few living in Africa and the warm regions of Asia and its archipelago. 

The animals have two sharp claws on each hind foot, all their other 
nails are flat. In their habits and economy, as well as in their hand-like 
paws, the lemurs are like the other monkeys. They principally differ 
from those animals in the shape of the head, which is somewhat like that 
of a dog, and in the great length of their hind legs. The latter are so 
long, that when the lemurs walk on all-fours, their haunches are consider- 
ably more elevated than the shoulders. 

But this structure is of great advantage to them in climbing trees. 
Many of the species are so active that they leap from branch to branch 
with a rapidity which the eye is scarcely able to follow. The lemurs 
derive their name from their nocturnal habits and their noiseless move- 
ments. They live in the depths of the forests, and only move by night, 
the entire day being spent in sleep. Their food consists of fruits and 
insects which latter they take while they are sleeping. 

The spectral lemur is of a grayish-brown color, and lives in some of 
the forests of Africa, its long tarsi, or hind legs enabling it to leap like 
a frog, and. its curious eyes giving it a singular appearance. 
Scenes Along- the River's Banks. 

Surrounded by such tropical scenes as we have just described, with 
their wonderful specimens of animal life, Livingstone pursued his way. 
A country once very populous was nearly deserted on account of con- 
tinuous raids by slave hunters. 

A hippopotamus was shot, and, at the end of three days, it floated. 
As the boat was towing it, immense numbers of crocodiles followed, and 
it was necessary to fire at them to keep them off. It is said that the 
crocodile never eats fresh meat ; indeed, the more putrid it becomes, the 
better he enjoys his repast, as he can thus tear the carcass more easily. 
The corpse of a boy was seen floating by. Several crocodiles dashed at 
it, fighting for their prey, and in a few seconds it disappeared. Sixty- 
seven of the repulsive reptiles were seen on one bank. The natives eat 
the animal, but few who had witnessed the horrible food on which' they 
banquet would willingly feed on their flesh. 

Their former companion, Mr. Thornton, here rejoined them. Hearing 
that the remaining members of the bishop's party were in want at Chi- 
bisa, he volunteered to carry over a supply of goats and sheep to them. 




(215) 



216 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Overcome by the fatigues of the journey, he was attacked by fever, which 
terminated fatally in April, 1863. 

The whole of the once pleasant Shire valley was now a scene of wide- 
spread desolation. Fearful famine had devastated it, and the sights which 
met their eye in every direction were heart-rending. The ground was 
literally covered with human bones. Many had ended their career under 
the shade of trees, others under projecting crags of the hills, while 
others lay in their huts with closed doors, which, when opened, disclosed 
the mouldering corpse with a few rags round the loins, the skull fallen off 
' the pillow ; the little skeleton of a child that had perished first, was rolled 
up in a mat between two large skeletons. 

Transporting the Boat Overland. 

Hoping that the "Lady Nyassa" might be the means of affording 
relief to sufferers across the lake, they hurried on with their work. She 
was unscrewed at a spot about five hundred yards below the first cataract, 
and they began to make a road over the portage of forty miles, by which 
she was to be carried piecemeal. 

Trees had to be cut down and stones removed. The first half-mile of 
road was formed up a gradual slope till two hundred feet above the river 
was reached, where a sensible difference in the climate was felt. Before 
much progress was made, Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone were seized 
with fever, and it was deemed absolutely necessary that they should be 
sent home. Soon afterwards Dr. Livingstone was himself attacked. 

The "Pioneer" meantime was roofed over and left in charge of the 
trustworthy gunner, Mr. Young. One day, an empty canoe was seen 
floating down with a woman swimming near it. The boat put off and 
brought her on board, when she was found to have an arrow-head 
in the middle of her back. A native cut it out, and, notwithstanding the 
fearful character of the wound, being fed liberally by Mr, Young, she re- 
covered. 

About the middle of June the remaining members of the expedition 
started for the upper cataracts. Cotton of superior quality was seen 
dropping off the bushes, with no one to gather it. The huts in several 
villages were found entire, with mortars and stones for pounding and 
grinding corn, empty corn safes and kitchen utensils, water and beer-pots 
untouched, but the doors were shut, as if the inhabitants had gone to 
search for roots or fruits and had never returned ; while in others, skele-' 
tons were seen of persons who died apparently while endeavoring to 
reach something to allay the gnawings of hunger. 

Several journeys had been made over the portage, when, on returning 



BATTLING WITH DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 217 

to the ship in July, they received a despatch from Earl Russell, directing 
the return home of the expedition. Arrangements therefore were made 
to screw the " Lady Nyassa" together again, as the " Pioneer" could not 
move till the floods in December. In the meantime it was determined 
to make another trip to the lake in a boat to be carried overland past the 
cataracts. 

The same scenes were witnessed as before. Wild animals had taken 
possession of the ruins of a large village in which on their previous visit 
the inhabitants had been living in peace and plenty. They had no idea, 
having before kept closer to the river, of the number of villages, always 
apparently selected with a view to shade, existing in that region, all of 
which were now deserted- 

They at length reached a region which had hitherto escaped, where 
the people welcomed them with the greatest cordiality, and were willing 
to spare the small amount of food they had remaining for themselves. 
But even here news of war soon reached them, and they found that a tribe 
of Zulus, the Mazitu,. were ravaging the country, and that the inhabitants 
were only safe within their stockades. They soon encountered men and 
women carrying grain towards these fortifications, and soon they came 
upon dead bodies, first one and then another, lying in postures assumed 
in mortal agony such as no painter can produce. 

Terror from Savag-e Invaders. 

On their arrival at Chinsamba's stockade, they were told that the 
Mazitu had been repulsed thence the day before, and the sad sight of the 
numerous bodies of the slain showed the truth of the report. Chinsamba 
urged them not to proceed to the north-west, where the Mazitu had 
occupied the whole region, and they accordingly remained with him till 
September. 

After this they visited Chia Lakelet. On their way they met men and 
women eagerly reaping the corn in haste, to convey it to the stockades, 
while so much was found scattered along the paths by the Mazitu and 
the fugitives that some women were winnowing it from the sand. Dead 
bodies and burned villages showed that they were close upon the heels of 
the invaders. Among the reeds on the banks of the lake was seen a 
continuous village of temporary huts in which the people had taken 
refuge from their invaders. 

Another extensive and interesting journey was taken in the neighbor- 
hood of the lake, and, on their return along the shores, they found the 
reeds still occupied by the unhappy fugitives, who were already suffering 
fearfully from famine. Numbers of newly-made graves showed that 



218 WONDERS OF -THE TROPICS. 

■many had already perished, and others had more the appearance of 
Jiuman skeletons than living beings. 

Altogether in this expedition they travelled seven hundred and sixty 
miles in a straight line, averaging about fifteen miles a day, and they 
reached the ship on the 1st of November, where all were found in 
good health and spirits. They were visited on board by an Ajawa, chief 
named Kapeni, who asserted that he and his people would gladly receive 
the associates of Bishop Mackenzie as their teachers. 

About the middle of December news reached them of the arrival of 
the successor of Bishop Mackenzie, but that gentleman, after spending a 
few months on the top of a mountain as high as Ben Nevis, at the mouth 
of the Shire, where there are few or no people to be taught, returned 
home, while six of the boys who had been reared by Bishop Mackenzie 
had been deserted and exposed to the risk of falling back into heathen- 
ism. The poor boys, however, managed to reach the ship, expressing 
their sorrow that they no longer had one to look after them, remarking 
that Bishop Mackenzie had a loving heart, and had been more than a 
father to them. 

In January, I864, the Shire suddenly rising, the " Pioneer" was once 
more got underway; but, her rudder being injured, she was delayed, 
and did not reach Morambala till February. Here they received on 
board about thirty orphan boys and girls, and a few helpless widows 
who had been attached to Bishop Mackenzie's mission, and who could 
not be abandoned without bringing odium on the English name. The 
moment permission to embark was given, they all rushed into the boat, 
nearly swamping her in their eagerness to be safe on the " Pioneer's " 
■deck. 

At the mouth of the Zambesi, they found Her Majesty's ships 
^' Orestes" and ''Ariel," when the former took the " Pioneer" in tow, and 
the latter the " Lady Nyassa," bound for Mozambique. After encoun- 
tering a heavy storm, when the little vessels behaved admirably, while 
the " Pioneer " was sent to the Cape, the " Lady Nyassa," under charge 
of Dr. Livingstone, proceeded by way of Zanzibar to Bombay, which 
they safely reached, though at times they thought their epitaph would 
be: "Left Zanzibar on the 30th of April, 1864, and never more heard 
of" 



CHAPTER X. 
LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Sensation Caused by Livingstone's Discoveries — New Expedition— Arrival at Zan- 
zibar — Hard March Across the Country — Desertion of Sepoys — Arrival on the 
Shores of the Lake— No Canoes— Report of Murders by Arabs— Desertions 
Among the Men — Story of Livingstone's Death — Excitement in England — Expe- 
dition Sent to Learn the Explorer's Fate — Ravages by a Savage Tribe— Thieves 
in the Camp— Loss of the Medicine Chest — Sufferings from Fever — Arrival at 
Tanganyika — A New Lake on the West — Further Progress Stopped— Patient 
Waiting— Off for the New Lake at Last— Down the Lake to Cazembe's— High 
and Mighty Potentate— Formal Reception to Livingstone— Presents to the Chief — 
Shocking Stories of Human Sacrifices — Cropping off Ears and Lopping off 
Hands — A Tribe that Smelts Copper-ore — Hot Springs and Frequent Earth- 
quakes — Exploring Lake Bangweolo— Grave in the Forest — " Poor Mary Lies 
on Shupanga Brae" — Remarkable Discovery — Modesty of the Great Explorer. 

'HE excitement caused in England by Livingstone's account of all 
that he had seen and done in his great journeys was intense. 
Men of science were eager to ascertain if the lakes of the South 
were connected with those of Central Africa, and, if so, by what 
means. One and all felt that the work begun must be carried on at what- 
ever cost. Missionary societies prepared to send members into the 
new and vast fields that had been opened. 

On every side arose a cry for new men, willing to risk their lives in 
the common cause of humanity and geographical discovery. With the 
missionaries who responded to this appeal we have not now to deal, 
though we are glad to be able to add that quite a little colony went to 
work on the shores of the Nyassa. Our task is merely to trace the 
further progress of the solution of the great problems of Central African 
geography, and it is with feelings of mingled joy and regret that we 
resume our narrative of the career of one of the greatest of all our heroes. 
We rejoice that Livingstone was spared to add yet another chapter to 
geographical science; we bitterly regret that our gain was purchased atj 
the cost of a life so valuable as his. ! 

On his return to England in 1864, the great explorer would fain havej 
retired from active service, and spent the evening of his life in settling the 
pecuniary affairs of his family and enjoying the society of his children. 
When asked by his friend, Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the 
Royal Geographical Society, to name a leader for a new expedition to 

(219) 



220 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

resolve the problem of the watershed between the Nyassa and Tangan- 
yika, Livingstone at once fixed upon an eminent traveller, whose name is 
for obvious reasons withheld. That traveller declined to undertake the 
mission because no sufficient remuneration was offered for his services, 
and in his disappointment, Sir Roderick appealed to Livingstone. Why 
could not he, who had already done so much, undertake this one more 
journey? Who so fit to complete the work as the experienced ex- 
plorer who had begun it? 

Resolve to Return to Africa. 

For a moment, but only for a moment, our hero hesitated, and then 
he urged, almost apologetically, all the reasons against the undertak- 
ing of fresh responsibility by a man of the advanced age of fifty-three, 
who was already worn out by the fatigues of two previous jour- 
neys, each extending over several years. All objections were, how- 
ever, overruled, and before the interview closed Livingstone had con- 
sented to start for Zanzibar as soon as his book on the Zambesi was 
published. 

For this new expedition the English Government subscribed the sum 
of ;^2,500, the Royal Geographical Society ^$2,500, and a private friend 
^5,000. Its main object was to explore the country between the Nyassa 
and Tanganyika, with a view to determining the relation of the two lakes 
to each other, but from first to last Livingstone never lost sight of the 
question — to him of equal importance — of the best means for benefiting 
the barbarous races in Africa. 

Our hero left England for the third and last time in August, 1865, 
scarcely more than a year after his return home from his Zambesi journey, 
and arrived in Zanzibar in January, 1866. He proposed penetrating to 
the Nyassa by way of the Rovuma River and those districts on the east 
of the lake inhabited by the dreaded Ajawa, but, except for this mere 
outline of a plan, he determined to be guided by circumstances, knowing 
from many a provoking experience how seldom any programme can be 
accurately carried out in African travel. 

Kindly received by the Sultan of Zanzibar, to whom he had first-rate 
letters of introduction, Livingstone was able to make the necessary 
arrangements for his journey with great rapidity, and by the beginning 
of March he had in his service, in addition to thirteen Sepoys from India, 
ten Johanna men, two Shapunga men, one of them the now celebrated 
Susi, two Wayans, the Chumah who with Susi remained with his master 
to the last, and a Wakatani. -An Arab dhow was purchased for the 
transit to the Rovuma of the animals, consisting of six camels, three 




(221) 



222 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

buffaloes, two mules, and four donkeys, and large stores of merchandise 
and provisions. No pains, in short, were spared to ensure success, and 
on the 1 8th of March all was ready for the start. 
The Expedition Starts. 

The explorer and his retinue crossed from Zanzibar to the main land 
in Her Majesty's ship " Penguin," and after a rather disheartening exami- 
nation of the mouths of the Rovuma, Mikindany Bay, twenty-five miles 
above them, was fixed upon as the best spot for disembarkation. Living- 
stone and his people landed, the " Penguin " took her leave, and the work 
of the expedition may be said to have begun. A house on the sea-shore 
was hired at the rate of four dollars a month to form a kind of permanent 
storehouse ; the animals were disembarked from the dhow, carriers were 
engaged, and early in April the march to the south was commenced. 

The caravan wound slowly through dense jungle, which had to be cut 
down for the passage of the camels, though it offered no serious obstruc- 
tion to the men of the party, and, halting now at one, now at another 
Makonde village, arrived on the banks of the Rovuma, opposite the 
furthest point reached by the " Pioneer" in 1866. 

The course was now due west, along the edge of " that ragged outline 
of table-land " which had been seen on the previous expedition as flanking 
both sides of the river. A rough path led, in winding fashion, from one 
village to another, all inhabited by Makonde, a degraded negro race, 
knowing nothing — though they are in constant intercourse with Arabs — 
of God, of a future state, or of the commonest usages of civilized life. 
They pray to their mothers when dying or in distress, and believe 
implicitly in the power of their doctors over life and death. The head- 
man of every village was also the doctor. Livingstone made several 
attempts to teach the Makonde the first principles of rehgion, but his 
ignorance of their language rendered all his efforts unsuccessful. 

Cruel Drivers. 

In the middle of April the caravan turned southwards, and for the next 
two months a south-westerly course was pursued, through a mountainous 
and well- wooded country, peopled by the Mtambwe, said to be a branch 
of the Makonde. In this march the chief difficulty with which our hero 
had to contend was the cruelty of his men to the animals, many of which 
were lamed by blows from their drivers, but whether with a view to 
retarding the journey, or from a wanton love of inflicting suffering, it was 
impossible to decide. The camels often came back from pasture bleeding 
from newly-inflicted wounds, and the buffaloes and mules were also soon, 
covered with sores. 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 



223: 



In May a country comparatively free of wood was entered, in whicb 
it was possible to advance without perpetual cutting and clearing, and the 
same month the highest point of the Rovuma reached by the " Pioneer" 
in 1862 was passed. Beyond came districts hitherto totally unknown tO' 




Europeans — though Roscher is supposed to have been in their neigh- 
borhood — where the natives, though not exactly unfriendly, did not 
readily supply food to the exploring party. Much coaxing and bargain- 
ing were required to obtain needed supplies, which were not always of 
the best quality, yet they were always dear. The country was suffering; 



224 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

from drought, and the people were in daily fear of raids from the Mazitu, 
a warlike race living on the southern banks of the Rovuma, who plunder 
and murder the surrounding tribes with savage recklessness. 

Miserably short marches were all that could be made on the small 
rations to which Livingstone was now obliged to reduce his men, but 
finally, all difficulties surmounted, the junction with the Loendi, supposed 
to be the parent stream of the Rovuma, was reached, and, crossing it with 
the help of a friendly chief called Matumora, our hero hoped to make 
his way rapidly to Lake Nyassa, across the southern bank of the 
Rovuma. 

Mutiny Among- tlie Sepoys. 

But now the Sepoys, who had long shown signs of insubordination, 
-declared they would go no further, and inquiry revealed that they had 
offered Ali, the leader of the retinue, eight rupees to take them to the 
'Coast. The Nassick boys followed their example. They would not go 
on to be starved; Livingstone must pay their wages and let them go. 
By continued threats and promises, however, a truce was patched up for 
a time, and the whole party crept on along the southern bank of the 
Rovuma till the i8th June, when one of the Nassick boys died, and the 
Sepoys again rebelled! To make a long story short, we may add that, 
after several vain attempts to bind them to his service, Livingstone 
finally consented to the return of the Indians to Zanzibar, and that those 
who survived the journey to the coast arrived there in August or Sep- 
tember. They appear j^o have suffered greatly, and to have had some 
excuse for their unwillingness to proceed further in a country where 
death from starvation was the least of many evils to be feared. 

Pressing on with his reduced numbers, Livingstone followed the course 
of the Rovuma until the 1st July. Then leaving the river he entered the 
Ajawa country, and, traversing it in a south-westerly direction, came to 
Lake Nyassa at the confluence of the Nishinge, in August, to find him- 
self once more amongst the friendly Mangahja, to whom he had rendered 
such great services in 1861. 

The practicability of the shorter route to the Nyassa from the eastern 
coast was now proved beyond a doubt, and, overjoyed by the successful 
termination of the first stage of his journey, Livingstone eagerly set 
about endeavoring to cross the lake, hoping to reach an Arab settlement 
which he knew to exist on the western shore, with a view to making it 
the starting-point for Tanganyika. 

In this plan our hero was disappointed. After trying for nearly a 
•month to persuade first one and then another native chief to lend him a 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 225 

-canoe, Livingstone finally determined to go southwards round Cape 
Maclear and ascend the lake on the other side. In this he was success- 
ful, and we soon find him marching across the base of the promontory, 
with the singular addition to his retinue of two Ajawa, who acted as 
guides and carriers, much to their own surprise, and that of everybody 
else, this tribe seldom condescending to do any work but fighting. 

A Courteous Chief. 

The village of Marenga, situated at the eastern edge of the bottom of 
the heel of the lake, was entered, inhabited by a tribe called Babisa, who 
had lately joined with the Ajawa in their raids upon the Manganja. The 
chief of this village, who was suffering from a loathsome skin disease 
introduced into the country by the Arabs, received Livingstone cour- 
teously, but allowed him to proceed northwards without warning him 
that the Mazitu were ravaging the country through which he must 
pass. 

Late in September an Arab met the party, and told Musa, one of the 
Johanna men, that all who ventured further would certainly be murdered ; 
forty-four Arabs had been killed at Kasungu ; he only had escaped to 
tell the tale. 

Surprised that he had heard nothing of this from Marenga, and half 
suspecting foul play, Livingstone lost no time in returning to that chief 
to inquire if there were any foundation for the story. The reply 
received was to the effect that it might be true. The natives were very 
bitter against the Arabs, who were gradually destroying their countiy. 
They would allow no more to settle amongst them, but their hostility 
would not extend to Livingstone or his people, and there were no Mazitu 
where he was going. 

Completely reassured himself, Livingstone determined to proceed, but 
the Johanna men had taken alarm. " Musa's eyes stood out with terror." 
He said, speaking of Marenga, " I no can believe that man ; " and when 
Livingstone inquired how he came to give such ready credence to the 
Arab, he answered, " I ask him to tell me true, and he say true, true." 
Reasoning and persuasion were alike in vain. Convinced that they and 
their master were doomed, the Johanna resolutely declined to go further 
and when the start was again made they went off in a body, leaving 
their loads on the ground. 

Report of Livingstone's Death. 

This was the true origin of the report, long believed in England, of the 
murder of Livingstone by natives on the western shores of Lake Nyassa. 
The deserters made their way back to Zanzibar, and, anxious to excuse 

15 



226 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

their own conduct, and explain their sudden return, related the foUowirig' 
plausible story : 

The expedition had safely reached Lake Nyassa and crossed it. The 
doctor then pushed on westwards, and in course of time reached Goo- 
mani, a fishing village on a river. The people of Goomani warned 
Livingstone that the Mafites, a wandering predatory tribe, were out on a 
plundering expedition, and that it would not be safe to continue the jour- 
ney ; but the dangers thus presented to view were not of a nature to 
deter a man who had braved so many before. Treating the warnings as 
of little moment, therefore, he crossed the river in canoes the next morn- 
ing, with his baggage and his train of followers. All the baggage 
animals had perished from want of water before this river was reached, 
so that the luggage had to be carried by the men. Being a fast walker, 
Livingstone soon distanced all his heavily-laden followers except Musa,, 
and two or three others who kept up with him. 

Musa's Story. 

The march had continued some distance, when Dr. Livingstone saw 
three armed men ahead, and thereupon he called out to Musa, " The 
Mafites are out after all ! " These were the last words he uttered. 

The Mafites, armed with bows and arrows and axes, closed upon 
the doctor, who drew his revolver and shot two. The third, however,, 
got behind him, and with one blow from an axe clove in his head. The 
wound was mortal, but the assassin quickly met his own doom, for a 
bullet from Musa's musket passed through his body, and the murderer fell 
dead beside his victim. 

Musa added that the doctor died instantly, and that, finding the Mafites- 
were out, he ran back to the baggage-men, and told them that their 
master had been killed. The baggage was then abandoned, and the whole 
party sought safety by a hasty flight, which they continued till sunset,, 
when they took refuge for the night in a jungle. The next day they 
returned to the scene of the disaster, and found Livingstone's body lying; 
on the ground naked but for the trousers, the rest of his clothing having" 
been stolen. A hole was hastily " scratched " in the ground, and the 
explorer was buried. No papers or any other means of identification 
were recovered, and, broken-hearted at the loss of their beloved master, 
the Johanna men started for the coast, enduring great hardships by the 
way, but finally arriving safely in Zanzibar. 

To this tale all the faithless servants adhered through one cross-exami- 
nation after another, and it was very generally believed, until Sir Roder- 
ick Murchison, in a letter to the. Times, pointed out several flaws in the 




(227) 



228 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ingenious fabrication, proposing at the same time that an expedition 
should be sent to the western shores of Lake Nyassa to examine into the 
truth of the report. The English Government promptly seized this sug- 
gestion; volunteers were called for, and hundreds of brave men eagerly 
offered their services. Mr. Edward Daniel Young was selected to take 
the command, and left England on the nth of June, 1869. 
Young's Search Expedition. 

In a trip extending over less than five months, the gallant officer com- 
pletely proved the falsity of Musa's account, obtained trustworthy evi- 
dence of Livingstone's continued health and activity, and in October 
embarked for England, where the news he brought was received with 
unbounded enthusiasm. 

Meanwhile, Livingstone, ignorant alike of the report of his death and 
of the efforts being made on his behalf, quietly reflects in his journal that 
he is not sorry to have got rid of the Johanna men, they were such invet- 
erate thieves. Pressing on with his small retinue, now reduced to the 
surviving Nassick boys and the Shapunga and Ajawa men, Livingstone 
reached a village at the foot of Mount Mulundini, on the west of the 
heel of the Nyassa, and, obtaining there confirmation of the reports of 
disturbances on the north, determined to go west amongst the Manganja, 
here called Maravi. 

This resolution was attended with the best results. Courteously 
received at every village, and supplied with guides to the next, our hero 
passed safely through a beautiful mountainous country, till he came to 
the hamlet of Pamiala, where he turned southwards, and, pursuing a 
zig-zag course, reached Chipanga, the most southerly point of his 
journey. 

A short march westward from Chipanga, brought the party to a village 
called Theresa, beyond which the course was north-easterly, and through 
districts hitherto totally unknown to Europeans. One river after another, 
flowing towards Lake Nyassa, was crossed, and all seemed likely to go 
well, when, in October, after a successful hunt, in which a fine hartebeest 
antelope was shot, came news, from villagers flying southwards for their 
lives, that the Mazitu were out and close at hand. 

Alarm and Flig^lit. 

The servants, who were eagerly anticipating a hearty supper, such as 
rarely fell to their lot, started to their feet, the half-cooked meat was 
hastily packed, and Livingstone and his guide Mpanda set out to engage 
extra carriers to aid in the retreat. 

As they approached the next village, however, the inhabitants poured 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 



229 



out. The Mazitu were there, too, and the terrified people were fleeing to 
the Zalanyama mountains, on the south-west. Mpanda and his men now 
wished to go home and look after their own property, but Livingstone 
managed to persuade them to remain, and follow with him " the spoor of 
the fugitives." Taking his stand at the foot of the rocky sides of the 
Zalanyama range, now crowded with trembling natives, our hero intended 
to defend his property to the last ; but after waiting some time he heard 
that the enemy had gone to the south. Had he carried out his first 
scheme of going forward in search of men, he would have walked 




LIVINGSTONE AND HIS MEN CROSSING 



SPONGE. 



Straight into the hands of the Mazitu, and his fate would probably have 
differed but little from that assigned to him in Musa's story. 

Most of the region before these mountains are reached is lowlands, 
and filled with "sponges;" Livingstone's description of the latter will 
stand the reader in good stead when he comes to the constant mention 
of these obstructions in the later travels towards the north. They were 
among the most formidable obstacles he had to encounter, and at times 
greatly impeded his progres 

" The bogs, or earthen sponges, of this country, occupy a most 
important part in its physical geography, and probably explain the 



230 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

annual inundations of most of the rivers. Wherever a plain sloping 
towards a narrow opening in hills or higher ground exists, there we have 
the conditions requisite for the formation of an African sponge. The 
vegetation, not being of a healthy or peat-forming kind, falls down, rots, 
and then forms rich black loam. In many cases a mass of this loam, 
two or three feet thick, rests on a bed of pure river sand, which is 
revealed by crabs and other aquatic animals bringing it to the surface. 
At present, in the dry season, the black loam is cracked in all direc- 
tions, and the cracks are often as much as three inches wide, and very 
deep. 

" The whole surface has now fallen down, and rests on the sand, but 
when the rains come, the first supply is nearly all absorbed in the sand. 
The black loam forms soft slush, and floats on the sand. The narrow 
opening prevents it from moving off in a landslip, but an oozing spring 
rises at that spot. All the pools in the lower portion of this spring- 
course are filled by the first rains, which happen south of the equator 
when the sun goes vertically over any spot. The second, or greater 
rains, happen in his course north again, when all the bogs and river- 
courses being wet, the supply runs off, and forms the inundation : this 
was certainly the case as observed on the Zambesi and Shire, and, taking 
the different times for the sun's passage north of the equator, it explains 
the inundation of the Nile." 

So saturated was the soil with moisture, that for days solid land was 
not to be found. Where Jhere was not absolute swamp and mire, the 
ground was covered with a matted green carpet — a thin crust of vegeta- 
tion and soil covering " the waters under the earth " — which rose and 
fell a foot at each step. These treacherous places had to be crossed with 
a light step, and without pausing, for at the least delay the foot might slip 
through the floating mass, and the unhappy traveller plunge up to the 
armpits in mire. 

Fire and Desolation. 

As the journey westward was pursued, the smoke of burning villages 
on the east and on the south plainly marked the course of the marauders, 
and, thankful for his narrow escape, Livingstone pressed on as rapidly as 
possible to the village of Mapino, beyond which he could only advance 
very slowly, as the country was thinly peopled, and food and water were 
scarce. The constant raids of marauders from the north and the visits 
of Arab slave-traders from the south had, moreover, rendered the natives 
suspicious and inhospitable, but, as in his previous journeys, Living- 
stone everywhere succeeded in overcoming the prejudice against white 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 231 

men, and convincing the poor down-trodden people that he meant them 
nothing but good. 

In November, the foot of Mount Chisia was reached, and a halt was 
made at a blacksmith's or founder's village, where Livingstone was inter- 
ested in witnessing the primitive native mode of smelting iron, and was 
watching the erection of a furnace on an ant-hill, when the feeling of 
security was again dispelled by tidings of the approach of the Mazitu. 
They were already, said the messenger, at the village on the north, 
which was to have been the next halting-place. 

The head-man of the village at once urged Livingstone to remain with 
him till it was certain which path the hated invaders would take, and the 
women were all sent away, whilst the men went on quietly with their 
usual occupations. No Mazitu came, but an elephant approached 
Livingstone's camp and " screamed at him," making off, however, at the 
shouting of the villagers. 

The next morning the march was resumed, and the Mazitu having been 
fortunately avoided, the source of the Bua, a tributaiy of the Loangwa, 
was reached, beyond which a halt was made outside a stockaded village, 
where the people refused to admit our hero until the head-man came and 
gave permission. This was a foretaste of many similar difficulties, but 
slowly, very slowly, step by step and inch by inch, the advance north- 
wards continued, now broken by illness, now hindered by roundabout 
excursions in search of the way. 

A Serious Loss. 

In December, the banks, of the Loangwa were sighted, and, unable to 
obtain food at the village on its eastern shores, Livingstone crossed the 
stream without a guide, and beyond it entered a " pathless, bushy 
country," where the way had to be cut step by step by the almost faint- 
ing travellers. 

To give the merest outlines of the^ difficulties surmounted, the dangers 
escaped, and the privations endured as the gallant little band advanced 
further and further into the unknown interior, would be to fill a volume. 
We must content ourselves with stating that a climax appears to have 
been reached in January, 1867, when, after plodding on under heavy 
rains through a famine-stricken country, and crossing the river Cham- 
beze, afterwards under its name of the Lualaba discovered to be of such 
vast importance, which comes down from the western slope of Lobisa, 
our hero was deserted by the two Ajawa men mentioned as having 
joined his party at Lake Nyassa. The loss of two carriers was bad 
enough, but, to complicate matters still further, they took with them the 



232 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

medicine-box for the sake of the cloth, and some clothes belonging to a 
boy named Baraka, in which were packed a quantity of flour, the tools,, 
two guns, and a cartridge-pouch. 

Livingstone, in relating the incident in his journal, remarks pathetically 
that the thieves would, of course, only throw away the valuable contents 
of the medicine-box when they discovered their nature, adding that he 
felt as if he had now received the sentence of death. 

" There can be little doubt," says Mr. Waller, editor of Livingstone's 
Journal, " that the severity of his subsequent illnesses mainly turned 
upon the loss of his medicines, and it is hardly too much to believe that 
his constitution from this time was steadily sapped by the effects of fever- 
poison which he was powerless to counteract, owing to the want of 
quinine." Before quoting Livingstone's account of this loss it may be 
well to explain that after the desertion of the Johanna men he was obliged 
to rely on the natives through whose districts he passed not only for 
guides but for porters. The following is the narrative : 

" A guide refused, so we marched without one. The two Waiyau, 
who joined us at Kande's village, now deserted. They had been very 
faithful all the way, and took our part in every case. Knowing the lan- 
guage well, they were extremely, useful, and no one thought that they 
would desert, for they were free men — their masters had been killed by 
the Mazitu — and this circumstance, and their uniform good conduct, made 
us trust them more than we should have done any others who had been 
slaves. But they left us ir^the forest, and heavy rain came on, which 
obliterated every vestige of their footsteps. To make the loss more gall- 
ing, they took what we could least spare — the medicine-box^ which they 
would only throw away as soon as they came to examine their booty. 

The Thieves Escape. 

" One of these deserters exchanged his load that morning v/ith a boy 
called Baraka, who had charge of the medicine-box, because he was so 
careful. This was done, because with the medicine-chest were packed 
five large cloths and all Baraka's clothing and beads, of which he was 
very careful. The Waiyau also offered to carry this burden a stage to 
help Baraka, while he gave his own load, in which there was no cloth, in 
exchange. The forest was so dense and high, there was no chance of 
getting a glimpse of the fugitives, who took all the dishes, a large box 
of powder, the flour we had purchased dearly to help us as far as the 
Chambeze, the tools, two guns, and a cartridge-pouch ; but the medicine- 
chest was the sorest loss of all ! I felt as if I had now received the sen- 
^tence of death, like poor Bishop Mackenzie. 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 233 

"All the other goods I had divided in case of loss or desertion, but 
had never dreamed of losing the precious quinine and other remedies; 
other losses and annoyances I felt as just parts of that undercurrent of 
vexations which is not wanting in even the smoothest life, and certainly 
not worthy of being moaned over in the experience of an explorer 
anxious to benefit a country and people — but this loss I feel most 
keenly." Every effort was made to intercept the runaways and recover 
the precious box; but they were fruitless, and it was not until Living- 
stone met Stanley at Ujiji five years later that he was again supplied with 
those medicines without which travel in Africa is so deadly. 

After crossing the Chambeze Livingstone found himself in a country 
called Lobemba, and late in January reached the village of the head 
chief Chitapanga. Chitapanga gave the travellers a grand reception and 
made a favorable impression upon Livingstone at first by his jolly good- 
nature; but subsequently he exhibited on a small scale all the rapacity 
of Kamrasi, and Livingstone was glad to get away after a stay of a few 
days. 

IntervicTT \vith a Great Chief. 

The stockade of Chitapanga was quite a formidable-looking structure. 
Besides a triple stockade, the village' was defended by a deep, broad 
ditch, and hedge of thorny shrub. 

The messengers from the great chief soon approached to inquire if 
the traveller desired an audience, and instructing him that their custom 
required every one to take something in his hand the first time he came 
before so great a man as Chitapanga. Being tired from marching, Liv- 
ingstone deferred his visit to the chief until evening. At. 5 p. m. he sent 
notice of his coming. Passing through the inner stockade and then on 
to an enormous hut, he entered the presence of the chief His Majesty 
was seated on the three-legged stool, which is one of the peculiar institu- 
tions of the country. Near him were three drummers, beating furiously, 
and ten or more men with odd-looking rattles in their. hands, with which 
they kept time to the drums, while seated and standing all about in the 
background were hundreds of eager subjects, who gazed with deepest 
interest on the reception. A noticeable feature of the ceremony was the 
regular approaching and receding of the rattlers, who seemed to give to 
their chief some special reverence by advancing toward him and holding 
their toy-looking instruments quite near the ground, While they kept up 
still with the drummers. 

Chitapanga was a strongly-built burly-looking fellow, with a jolly, 
laughing face. Livingstone was seated on a huge tusk, and the talk 



234 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

began. He found little difficulty in interesting the chief in those things 
which he had to tell, and was treated with a respect and cordiality which 
impressed him very favorably with him. When they had got a little 
acquainted, the chief walked with his visitor toward a group of cows 
and with a generous air pointed out one and said, ".That is yours." 

Various circumstances conspired to protract the stay of Livingstone 
twenty days at this village. Though quite favorably impressed with 
Chitapanga, the necessity of holding all his interviews through others 
gave rise to serious annoyances. He was particulaily troubled and vexed, 
after killing the cow which had been given him, by the chief's demand- 
ing a blanket for it. This was more annoying because he had none 
except such as belonged to the men who were with him. 
Tricks of Jjying Interpreters. 
This demand was pressed, however, and it at length turned out that 
one of the Nassick lads, who had acted as interpreter at their interviews, 
had not stated the conversation correctly. The chief had given the cow, 
expecting a blanket, but the boy had said to Livingstone, " He says you 
may give him any little thing you please." This presumptuous interference 
of interpreters is one of the most serious annoyances of travelling in any 
country; particularly is it so in Africa: not only Dr. Livingstone but 
many travellers there have been greatly troubled by it. 

At this village Livingstone met a party of small black Arab slave- 
traders from Bagamoio, on the coast near Zanzibar, by whom he was able 
to send a packet of lettersi, which reached England safely and greatly 
relieved the public mind concerning the great traveller, who had been 
reported dead by Musa after he had so heartlessly deserted him near 
Nyassa. These Arab traders had come into the country by a much 
nearer route : a route too which was full of villages and people who had 
plenty of goats. By these men Livingstone ordered another supply of 
cloth and beads and a small quantity of coffee and sugar, candles, pre- 
served meats, etc., with some medicines, to be sent to Ujiji. 

Little else occurred during the stay with Chitapanga worthy of special 
mention. The frequent returns of illness were nothing uncommon now. 
It was sad indeed to be so great a sufferer, and deprived of the relief 
which he could have found in his medicine-box. We cannot imagine a 
more painful experience than the consciousness of failing health in a far 
away heathen land without a single remedy at hand. 

At length, after repeated misunderstandings and compromises with 
Chitapanga, all growing out of the unpardonable interference of the boys, 
who presumed to interpret the conversation according to their ideas of 




(235) 



236 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

what it was best should be said, Dr. Livingstone prepared to leave. He 
says : 

" I told the chief before starting that my heart was sore because he 
was not sending me away so cordially as I liked. He at once ordered 
men to start with us, and gave me a brass knife with ivory sheath, which 
he had long worn as a memorial. He explained that we ought to go 
north as, if we made easting, we should ultimately be obliged to turn 
west, and all our cloth would be expended ere we reached the Lake Tan- 
ganyika; he took a piece of clay off the ground and rubbed it on his 
tongue as an oath that what he said was true, and came along with us to 
see that all was right ; and so we parted." 

The Bold Discoverer Turned Aside. 

Holding a north-westerly course from this point, numerous small rivers 
and rivulets were crossed, and in March, he came in sight of Lake 
Liemba, which subsequent exploration proved to be the southern ex- 
tremity of Tanganyika. It was Livingstone's desire to march up the 
shore of the lake and discover at once what its northern connections 
were ; but news of a Mazitu raid in that direction compelled him to 
desist, and he concluded to strike westward, visit Casembe, and explore 
Lake Moero, of which he had already heard rumors. This plan he 
carried out fully, in spite of many delays; and after his arrival at 
Casembe's town, he wrote a despatch to Lord Clarendon, dated Decem- 
ber loth, 1867 (which, however, was never sent), in which he gives an 
epitomized description of rfiis travels, and of his stay at Casembe. This 
despatch is especially valuable because it treats of the geography of the 
whole district between Lakes Nyassa and Moero, and we reproduce it 
nearly entire : 

The altitude of this upland is from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the level 
of the sea. It is generally covered with forest, well watered by numerous 
rivulets, and comparatively cold. The soil is very rich, and yields 
abundantly wherever cultivated. This is the watershed between the 
Loangwa, a tributary of the Zambesi, and several rivers which flow 
towards the north. Of the latter, the most remarkable is the Chambeze, 
for it assists in the formation of three lakes, and changes its name three 
times in the five or six hundred miles of its course. 

On leaving Lobemba we entered Ulungu, and, as we proceeded north- 
wards, perceived by the barometers and the courses of numerous rivulets, 
that a decided slope lay in that direction. A friendly old Ulungu chief, 
named Kasonso, on hearing that I wished to visit Lake Liemba, which 
lies in his country, gave his son with a large escort to guide me thither ; 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 237 

and early in April last we reached the brim of the deep cup-like 
cavity in which the lake reposes. The descent is 2,000 feet, and still the 
surface of the water is upwards of 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. 

Beautiful Cascades. 

The sides of the hollow are very steep, and sometimes the rocks run the 
whole 2,000 feet sheer down to the water. Nowhere is there three miles 
of level land from the foot of the cliffs to the shore, but top, sides, and 
bottom are covered wjth well-grown wood and grass, except where the 
bare rocks protrude. The scenery is extremely beautiful. A stream of 
fifteen yards broad and thigh deep came down alongside our precipitous 
path, and formed cascades by leaping 300 feet at a time. These, with 
the bright red of the clay schists among the greenwood-trees, made the 
dullest of my attendants pause and remark with wonder. Antelopes, 
buffaloes, and elephants abound on the steep slopes ; and hippopotomi, 
crocodiles, and fish swarm in the water. Gnus may live to old age 
if not beguiled into pitfalls. The elephants sometimes eat the crops 
of the natives, and flap their big ears just outside the village stock- 
ades. One got out of our way on to a comparatively level spot, 
and then stood and roared at us. Elsewhere they make clear off at 
sight of man. 

The first village we came to on the banks of the lake had a grove of 
palm-oil and other trees around it. This palm-tree was not the dwarf 
species seen on Lake Nyassa. A cluster of the fruit passed the door of 
my 'hut which required two men to carry it. The fruit seemed quite as 
large as those on the West Coast. Most of the natives live on two 
islands, where they cultivate the soil, rear goats, and catch fish. 

We remained six weeks oh the shores of the lake, trying to pick up 
some flesh and strength. A party of Arabs came into Ulungu after us 
in search of ivory, and hearing that an Englishman had preceded them, 
naturally inquired where I was. But our friends, the Biiulungu, suspect- 
ing that mischief was meant, stoutly denied that they had seen anything 
of the sort; and then became very urgent that I should go on to one of 
the inhabited islands for safety. 

Cunniug- Natives. 

I regret that I suspected them of intending to make me a prisoner 
there, which they could easily have done by removing the canoes; but 
when the villagers who deceived the Arabs told me afterwards with an 
air of triumph how nicely they had managed, I saw that they had only 
been anxious for my safety. On three occasions the same friendly dis- 
position was shown ; and when we went round the west side of the lake 



238 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

in order to examine the arm or branch above referred to, the head-man 
at the confluence of the Lofu protested so strongly against my going 
— the Arabs had been fighting, and I might be mistaken for an Arab, 
and killed — that I felt half-inclined to believe him. Two Arab slaves 
entered the village the same afternoon in search of ivory, and confirmed 
all he had said. 

We now altered our course, intending to go south about the district 
disturbed by the Arabs. When we had gone 60 miles we heard that the 
head-quarters of the Arabs were 22 miles farther. They had found 
ivory very cheap, and pushed on to the west, till attacked by a chief 
named Nsama, whom they beat in his own stockade. They were now 
at a loss which way to turn. On reaching Chitimba's village, I found 
them about 600 in all ; and, on presenting a letter I had from the Sultan 
of Zanzibar, was immediately supplied with provisions, beads, and cloth. 
They approved of my plan of passing to the south of Nsama's country, 
but advised waiting till the effects of punishment, which the Baulungu 
had resolved to inflict on Nsama for breach of public law, were known. It 
had always been understood that whoever brought goods into the country 
was to be protected ; and two hours after my arrival at Chitimba's, the 
son of Kasonso, our guide, marched in with his contingent. It was 
anticipated that Nsama might flee ; if to the north, he would leave me a 
free passage through his country ; if to the south, I might be saved 
from walking into his hands. 

Not AnxLou§ to Marry an African Belle. 

But it turned out that Nsama was anxious for peace. He had sent 
two men with elephants' tusks to begin a negotiation ; but treachery was 
suspected, and they were shot down. Another effort was made with ten 
goats, and repulsed. This was much to the regret of the head Arabs. 
It was fortunate for me that the Arab goods were not all sold, for Lake 
Moero lay in Nsama's country, and without peace no ivory could be 
bought, nor could I reach the lake. 

The peace-making between the people and Arabs was, however, a 
tedious process, occupying three and a half months drinking each other's 
blood. I thought that had I been an Arab I could easily swallow that, 
but not the next means of cementing the peace — marrying a black wife. 
Nsama's daughter was the bride, and she turned out very pretty. She 
came riding pickaback on a man's shoulders ; this is the most dignified 
conveyance that chiefs and their families can command. She had ten 
maids with her, each carrying a basket of provisions, and all having the 
same beautiful features as herself. She was taken by the principal Arab, 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 



239 



but soon showed that she preferred her father to her husband, for seeing- 
preparations made to send off to purchase ivory, she suspected that her 
father was to be attacked, and made her escape. 

I then visited Nsama, and, as he objected to many people coming near 




A CHIEFS MOST DIGNIFIED CONVEYANCE. 

him, took only three of my eight attendants. His people were very 
much afraid of fire-arms, and felt all my clothing to see if I had any con- 
cealed on my person. Nsama is an old man, with head and face like 
those sculptured on the Assyrian monuments. He has been a great 



240 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

conqueror in his time, and with bows and arrows was invincible. He is 
said to have destroyed many native traders from Tanganyika, but twenty 
Arab guns made him flee from his own stockade, and caused a great 
sensation in the country. 

He was much taken with my hair and woolen clothing; but his people, 
heedless of his scolding, so pressed upon us that we could not converse, 
and, after promising to send for me to talk during the night, our inter- 
view ended. He promised guides to Moero, and sent us more provisions 
than we could carry ; but showed so much distrust, that after all we went 
without his assistance.. 

Remarkably Handsome Natives. 

Nsama's people are particularly handsome. Many- of the men have as 
beautiful heads as one could find in an assembly of Europeans. All have 
very fine forms, with small hands and feet. None of the West-coast 
ugliness, from which most of our ideas of the Negroes are derived, is here 
to be seen. No prognathous jaws nor lark heels offend the sight. My 
observations deepened the impression first obtained from the remarks of 
Winwood Reade, that the typical Negro is seen in the ancient Egyptian, 
and not in the ungainly forms which grow up in the unhealthy swamps 
of the West Coast. Indeed it is probable that this upland forest region 
is the true home of the Negro. The women excited the admiration of 
the Arabs. They have fine, small, well-formed features; their great 
defect is one of fashion, which does not extend to the next tribe ; they 
file their teeth to points, the hussies, and that makes their smile like that 
of the crocodile. 

Nsama's country is called Itawa. From the large population he had 
under him, Itawa is in many parts well cleared of trees for cultivation, 
and it is lower than Ulungu, being generally about 3,000 feet above the 
sea. Long lines of tree-covered hills raised some 600 or 700 feet above 
these valleys of denudation, prevent the scenery from being monotonous. 
Large game is abundant. Elephants, buffaloes and zebras grazed in 
large numbers on the long sloping banks of a river called Chisera, a mile 
and a half broad. In going north, we crossed this river, or rather marsh, 
which is full of papyrus plants or reeds. Our ford was an elephant's 
path ; and the roots of the papyrus, though a carpet to these animals, 
were sharp and sore to feet usually protected by shoes, and often made 
us shrink and flounder into holes chest deep. The Chisera forms a 
larger mars'h west of this, and it gives off its water to the Kalongosi, a 
feeder of Lake Moero. 

The Arabs sent out men in all directions to purchase ivory ; but their 



LIVINGSTONE LOST 'IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 



241 



victory over Nsama had created a panic among the tribes, which no 
verbal assurances could allay. If Nsama had been routed by twenty 
Arab guns, no one could stand before them but Casembe ; and Casembe 
had issued strict orders to his people not to allow the Arabs who fought 
Nsama to enter his country. They did not attempt to force their way. 




CASEMBE DRESSED TO RECEIVE LIVINGSTONE. 

but after sending friendly messages and presents to different chiefs, when 

these were not cordially received, turned off in some other direction, and 

at last, despairing of more ivory, turned homewards. From first to last 

they were extremely kind to me, and showed all due respect to the 

Sultan's letter. 

16 



242 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

When at the lower end of Moero we were so near Casembe that it 
was thought well to ascertain the length of the lake, and see Casembe 
too. We came up between the double range that flanks the east of the 
lake ; but mountains and plains are so covered with well-grown forest that 
we could seldom see it. We reached Casembe's town late in November. 
It stands near the north end of a lakelet ; this is from one to three 
miles broad, and some six or seven long; it is full of sedgy islands,, 
and abounds in fish. 

The town of Casembe covers a mile square of cassava plantations, the 
huts being dotted over that space. Some have square enclosures of 
reeds, but no attempt has been made at arrangement ; it might be called 
a rural village rather than a town. No estimate could be formed by 
counting the huts, they are so irregularly planted, and hidden by cassava; 
but my impression from other collections of huts was that the population 
wa's under a thousand souls. The court or compound of Casembe — 
some would call it a palace — is a square enclosure of 300 yards by 200 
yards. It is surrounded by a hedge of high reeds. 
His Koyal Hig-liness Casembe. 

Inside, where Casembe honored me with a grand reception, stands a 
gigantic hut for Casembe, and a score of small huts for domestics. The 
queen's hut stands behind that of the chief, with a number of small huts 
also. Most of the enclosed space is covered with a plantation of cassava 
and cotton. Casembe sat before his hut on a square seat placed on lion 
and leopard skins. He was clothed in a coarse blue and white Manchester 
print edged with red baize, and arranged in large folds so as to look like 
a crinoline put on wrong side formost His arms, legs, and head were 
covered with sleeves, leggings and cap made of various colored beads in 
neat patterns. Each of his head-men came forward, shaded by a huge,, 
ill-made umbrella, and followed by his dependants, made obeisance to 
Casembe, and sat down on his right and left : various bands of musicians 
did the same. 

When called upon I rose and bowed, and an old counsellor, with his 
ears cropped, gave the chief as full an account as he had been able to 
gather during our stay of the English in general, and my antecedents in 
particular. My having passed through Lunda to the west of Casembe,. 
and visited chiefs of whom he scarcely knew anything, excited most atten- 
tion. He then assured me that I was welcome to his country, to go 
where I liked, and do what I chose. We then went to an inner apart- 
ment, where the articles of my present were exhibited in detail. He had 
examined them privately before, and we knew that he was satisfied. 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 243 

They consisted of eight yards of orange-colored serge, a large striped 
tablecloth ; another large cloth made at Manchester in imitation of West 
Coast native manufacture, which never fails to excite the admiration of 
Arabs and natives, and a large richly gilded comb for the back hair, such 
as ladies wore fifty years ago : this was given to me by a friend at Liver- 
pool, and as Casembe and Nsama's people cultivate the hair into large 
knobs behind, I was sure that this article would tickle the fancy. 
Casembe expressed himself pleased, and again bade me welcome. 
Friglitful Stories of Human Sacrifices. 

The different Casembes visited by the Portuguese seem to have varied 
much in character and otherwise. Pereira, the first visitor, said (I quote 
from memory) that Casembe had 20,000 trained soldiers, watered his 
streets daily, and sacrificed twenty human victims every day. I could 
hear nothing of human sacrifices now, and it is questionable if the 
present Casembe could bring a thousand stragglers into the field. When 
he usurped power five years ago, his country was densely peopled ; but 
he was so severe in his puishments — cropping the ears, lopping off the 
hands, and other mutilations, selling the children for very slight offences, 
that his subjects gradually dispersed themselves in the neighboring 
countries beyond his power. This is the common mode by which 
tyranny is cured in parts like these, where fugitives are never returned. 
The present Casembe is very poor. When he had people who killed 
elephants he was too stingy to share the profits of the sale of the ivory 
with his sul ordinates. 

The elephant hunters have either left him or neglect hunting, so he 
has no tusks to sell to the Arab traders who come from Tanganyika. 
Major Monteiro, the third Portuguese who visited Casembe, appears to 
have been badly treated by this man's predecessor, and no other of his 
nation has ventured so far since. They do not lose much by remaining 
away, for a little ivory and slaves are all that Casembe ever can have to 
sell. About a month to the west of this the people of Katanga smelt 
copper-ore (malachite) into large bars shaped like the capital letter I, 
They may be met with of from 50 lbs. to 100 lbs. weight all over the 
country, and the inhabitants draw the copper into wire for armlets and 
leglets. Gold is also found at Katanga, and specimens were lately sent 
to the Sultan of Zanzibar. 

Hot Springs and Earthquakes. 

As we come down from the watershed toward Tanganyika we enter an 
area of the earth's surface still disturbed by internal igneous action. A 
hot fountain in the country of Nsama is often used to boil cassava and 



244 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

maize. Earthquakes are by no means rare. We experienced the shock 
of one while at Chitimba's village, and they extend as far as Casembe's. 
I felt as if afloat, and as huts would not fall there was no sense of danger ; 
some of them that happened at night set the fowls a-cackling. The 
most remarkable effect of this one was that it changed the rates of the 
chronometers ; no rain fell after it. Some of Nsama's people ascribed 
the earthquakes to the hot fountain, because it showed unusual commo- 
tion on these occasions. 

The foregoing is Livingstone's interesting account of the country 
through which he passed. A few days after his arrival at Lake Liemba, 
Livingstone had an attack which showed him the power of fever when 
unchecked by medicine, and a recurrence of his symptoms at Casembe's 
made him anxious to proceed to Ujiji in order to recuperate and replenish 
his stores before pursuing his explorations. He actually set out for Lake 
Tanganyika, but was soon convinced that the intervening country was 
impassable until the rainy season was over. This involved a delay of 
several months, and before these had passed and the season for travel 
come round again, he had determined to explore Lake Bangweolo before 
going north. He hoped to complete the exploration early in 1868; but 
owing first to the desertion of several of his men who refused to turn 
back, and secondly to Casembe's postponements and delays, it was June 
before he started from Casembe's town on his way south. His journey 
was wholly without incident requiring special mention, unless we except 
one which has rather mor^ of a personal interest than Livingstone often 
imparted even to his private diaries. 

A G-rave in a Strange Land. 

Under date of June 25th he writes: — "We came to a grave in the 
forest ; it was a little rounded mound as if the occupant sat in it in the 
usual native way : it was strewed over with flour, and a number of the 
large blue beads put on it: a little path showed that it had visitors. 
This is a sort of grave I should prefer : to lie in the still, still forest, and 
no hand ever disturb my bones. The graves at home always seem to me 
to be miserable, especially those in the cold damp clay, and without elbow 
room ; but I have nothing to do but wait till He who is over all, decides 
where I have to lay me down and die. Poor Mary lies on Shupanga 
brae, * and beeks foment the sun.' " This is an allusion to Mrs. Living- 
stone's grave. 

It was in July that Dr. Livingstone discovered one of the largest of 
the Central African lakes ; and it is extraordinary to notice the total 
absence of all pride and enthusiasm, as — almost parenthetically — he 



LIVINGSTONE LOST IN THE DARK CONTINENT. 245 

records the fact. " Reached the chief village of Mapuni, near the north 
bank of Bangweolo. On the 18th I walked a little way out, and saw the 
shores of the lake for the first time, thankful that I had come safely- 
hither." He made a canoe voyage during the next few days which gave 
him an idea of its size, and he thinks he is considerably within the mark 
in setting down Bangweolo as 150 miles long, by 80 broad. 

The reader must have discovered by this time that everything in 
Africa is upon a large scale — great rivers, thick jungles, wide stretches 
of country unpeopled, tremendous waterfalls, and all natural objects 
great with the exception of mountains. These in their loftiest grandeur 
are not to be found in the Dark Continent. 

It is also seen that there is a great abundance of animal life. Here is 
the home of the elephant, the lion, the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, 
the zebra, the giraffe and animals of less size, but swift in their move- 
ments and beautiful in appearance. Reptiles also abound, as well as 
monkeys and gorillas, and the traveller in Africa meets with constant 
surprises as well as constant dangers. In years past many have gone 
out to South Africa for the purpose of hunting and engaging in wild 
sports. Marvellous tales have been told by these adventurers of their 
achievements, some of which we shall have occasion to notice hereafter, 
Livingstone was not, properly speaking, a sportsman, yet, of course, he 
carried his gun and other arms, but never more than once or twice had 
occasion to use them except for the purpose of obtaining food for his 
expeditions. 

One of the noticeable features of Livingstone's journeys is the facility • 
with which he gains the friendship of the natives, comes into pleasant 
relations with the chiefs, secures what is needful for his men, and is able, 
if occasion offers, to return and be welcomed by those whom he has met 
before. Nothing could better show the nobility of his nature, the large- 
ness of his heart, the sympathy that he had for all men, as well as the 
consummate tact which he displayed in dealing with savage tribes. 



CHAPTER XI. 
TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 

Great Excitement Among the Natives by the Presence of a White Man — Cruise on a 
Large Lake — Strike of Canoe-Men — Only a Coverlet with which to hire another 
Canoe— Food Obtained by Shooting Buffaloes — Fine Sport for the Hunter — How 
the Buffalo is Hunted — Thrilling Adventure with the Huge Brute— A Hottentot 
Dodging in the Bushes — Terrible Foe — Adventure of a Friend of Livingstone— 
A Dangerous Meeting with Two Lions — Charge of a Mad Buffalo — Livingstone 
Pursues His Journey — A Country Convulsed by War — Mohammed and other 
Arab Traders — Flight for Life — Livingstone Pacifies the Natives — Return of 
Deserters— Start for Ujiji— Serious Illness — A Dauntless Hero — Encounter with 
an Elephant — Beautiful Monkeys in the Forest — Thousands of Ants on the 
March — Graphic Description of Manyuema — Degraded Tribe of Cannibals — 
Market Scene in Manyuema — Terrible Massacre — Disastrous Attempt to Go 
Forward — Lake Named after President Lincoln — The Explorer's Account of the 
Soko — Freaks of a Strange Animal — A Wild Creature that Never Attacks 
Women — Amusing Female Soko — Ten Men with Stores Meet Livingstone — 
Shocking Barbarity — Hundreds of Lives Lost — Shameful Cruelty and Destruc- 
tion — Off on Foot for Ujiji — Near to Death— People Who Eat Their Enemies — 
Arrival at Ujiji — Sick, Worn out and in Desperate Straits. 

MBARKING on the lake in a fine canoe, with five stout men as 
propellers, Livingstone in a few hours reached an island where he 
remained a short tirfte, going on before night to the more import- 
ant Mbahala, where his appearance created the greatest excitement 
amongst the natives, who had never before seen a white man. Walking 
across to the north end of the island, Livingstone ascertained it to be 
about one mile broad, and from the eastern point he made out a larger 
island on the right, called by the natives Chirubi, and said to contain a 
large population, possessing many sheep and goats. These minor facts 
determined, our hero prepared to continue his voyage, hoping to pass, if 
he could not touch at, the spot where the Lualaba leaves Lake Bang- 
weolo on its journey to Moero. 

But, alas ! in July the canoe-men struck. They had heard of a medi- 
tated attack upon their little bark ; they dared not remain longer on the 
lake ; but if Livingstone liked to stay on Mbahala they would come 
and fetch him presently, when all danger was over. Believing this to be 
a gotten up tale to avoid further work in his service, their wages having 
been paid in advance, the unfortunate explorer at first thought of seizing 
their paddles, and appealing to the head-man of the island. Reflecting 
(246) 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 247 

still further, however, that he was entirely in their power, and that the 
islanders would probably side with them, he resolved to bear ''with 
meekness, though groaning inwardly," the disappointment inflicted upon 
him. 

" I had only," says Livingstone, " my coverlet to hire another canoe, 
and it was now very cold ; the few beads left would all be required to 
buy food on the way back. I might have got food by shooting buffaloes, 
but that on foot, and through grass with stalks as thick as a goosequill, is 
dreadfully hard work." Back then he must go to Masantu's, compelled 
to trust to native reports, for the present at least, for his computation of 
distances, etc., on the lake. 

Livingstone's reference to getting food by shooting buffaloes shows 
how abundant these animals are in the southern part of Africa. This is 
one of the attractions of this part of the continent for the hunter, 
although our great explorer seldom hunted merely for sport. Travellers 
give us interesting accounts of the African buffalo and the excitement of 
the chase. 

Fine Sport for the Hunter. 

In the first place, he is a handsome animal, of graceful shape, and a 
giant in strength; in his native wilds he is just a peaceful grazer, con- 
tented to pass his life cropping grass and green leaves, and to interfere 
with no animal, human or other ; but, challenge him to' war, and the 
fiercest hunter could not desire bolder game ; capture and tame him, and 
he will draw your plough or wagon *as submissively as the ox. He fe a 
faithful friend, and will fight to the, death on behalf of his companions, 
and for the sake of his young will do battle with the lion himself 

Of retiring habits, they affect vast solitudes where verdure abounds, 
and there is no lack of rivers and pools in which they may luxuriate, 
immersing themselves till only their heads appear above the surface, cool- 
ing their leathery hides and getting respite from the formidable stinging 
things that fly, or the biters that closely adhere to their bodies. If water 
is unattainable, the buffalo will content himself with mud, if there is 
plenty of it. Throwing himself flat upon his side in the mire, he shuf- 
iles round and round, the soil yielding to his immense weight the exuda- 
tion of any moisture there may be, till he manufactures for himself a 
delicious basin of mortar, covering him to his very eyes. 

When he rises and walks off he presents a decidedly unhandsome ap- 
pearance, which is not improved when, in the course of an hour or so, 
the sun bakes his mud crust, and he looks, when standing still, like 
some hideous clay image. Ease, however, is of considerably more im- 



248 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

portance to the buffalo than elegance, and until the motion of his 
limbs causes his ugly coat to peel off he may defy all the vermin in the 
world. 

When Captain Methuen and his party were hunting at the Cape of 
Good Hope he had an opportunity of judging how terrible a beast the 
bull buffalo is when wounded and hard driven by the daring sportsman. 
With the captain were a Hottentot attendant, named Frolic, and a friend, 
named Moneypenny, and having discovered a herd of buffaloes, the trio 
let fly at them, wounding some, but not so badly but that the entire 
drove escaped to an impenetrable patch of forest. The captain, however, 
climbed into a tree, and thereby sighted and shot another bull, whereon 
"the wounded animal ran toward the report, his ears outstretched, his 
eyes moving in all directions, and his nose carried in a right line with the 
head, evidently bent on revenge. He passed within thirty yards of me,, 
and was lost in the bush. Descending from our frail perch. Frolic again 
discovered this buffalo standing among some small thick bushes which. 
nearly hid him from view ; his head was lowered, not a muscle of the 
body moved, and he was without doubt listening intently. We crept 
noiselessly to a bush and I again fired. 

"His Horn Struck the Muzzle of the Gun." 

"The huge brute ran forward with the wind, fortunately not in our di- 
rection, and again stood still. Presently he lay gently down, and know- 
ing that buffaloes are exceedingly cunning, and will adopt this plan 
merely to escape notice and entrap their persecutors, we drew near with 
great caution. I again fired through his shoulder, and concluded from 
his not attempting to rise that he was helpless. We walked close up to 
him, and never can the scene which followed be erased from my memory. 
Turning his ponderous head round, his eye caught our figures. I fired 
the second barrel of my rifle behind his horns, but it did not reach the 
brain. His wounds gave him some difificulty in getting up, which afford- 
ed Moneypenny and myself just time to ensconce ourselves behind the 
slender shrubs that grew round the spot, while Frolic unwisely took to 
his heels. The buffalo saw him, and uttering a continued unearthly noise 
between a grunt and a bellow, advanced at a pace at which these unwieldy 
creatures are rarely seen to run, unless stirred by revenge. 

"Crashing through the low bushes as if they were stubble, he passed 
me, but charged quite over Moneypenny's lurking-place, who aimed at 
him as he came on, and lodged the ball in the rocky mass of horn above 
his head ; the buffalo was so near at the time of his firing that his horn 
struck the barrel of the gun the next instant; but whether the noise and. 



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(249) 



250 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

smoke confused the animal, or he was partially stunned by the bullet, he 
missed my friend, and continued in pursuit of Frolic. 

"The Hottentot dodged the terrible brute round the bushes, but 
through these slight obstacles it dashed with ease and gained ground 
rapidly. Speechless we watched the chase, and in the awful moment, 
regardless of concealment, stood up and saw the buffalo overtake his 
victim and knock him down. At this crisis my friend fired his second 
barrel at the beast, which gave Frolic one or two blows with his fore-feet, 
and pushing his nose under, endeavored to toss him; but the Hottentot, 
aware of this, with much presence of mind lay perfectly still. Directly 
after the buffalo stumbled and fell dead, and Frolic got on his legs and 
limped toward us. He was much hurt, and the powder-flask in his 
game-bag was stamped quite flat." 

A Terrible Foe. 

Although of a pacific disposition, the buffalo will defend himself with 
astonishing courage against the attacks of either man or beast when 
brought to bay. The bear has no chance with, and even the cunning 
tiger dare not face the buffalo's terrible horns, and can only obtain the 
mastery by lying in ambush and springing on to the buffalo's flanks. 
The buffalo cow will attack the lion fearlessly in defence of her young. 
Dr. Livingstone asserts that a toss from the buffalo will often kill a lion, 
and that he had seen two who had evidently come to their death by the 
horns of the buffalo. 

In a letter to his friend Dr. Livingstone, Mr. Vardon thus describes a 
terrific struggle between a buffalo and three lions as witnessed and 
assisted at by himself and Mr. Oswell, on the banks of the Limpopo : — 
^' Oswell and I were riding along the banks of the river when a water- 
buck started in front of us. I dismounted, and was following it through 
the jungle, when three buffaloes got up, and after going a little distance 
stood still, and the nearest bull turned round and looked at me. A ball 
from a two-ouncer crashed into his shoulder, and they all three made off. 
Oswell and I followed as soon as I had reloaded, and when we were in 
sight of the buffalo, and gaining on him every stride, three lions leaped 
on the unfortunate brute. 

" He bellowed most lustily as he kept up a running fight, but he was of 
course soon overpowered and pulled down. We had a fine view of the 
struggle, and saw the lions on their hind-legs tearing away with teeth 
and claws in the most ferocious style. We crept up within thirty yards, 
and kneeling down blazed away at the lions. My rifle was a single 
barrel, and I had no spare gun. One lion fell dead almost on the buffalo; 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 251 

he had merely time to turn towards us, seize a bush with his teeth, and 
drop dead with the stick in his jaws. 

"The second made off directly; and the third raised his head coolly, 
looked around for a moment, then went on tearing and biting at the 
carcase as hard as ever. We retired a short distance to load, then again 
advanced and fired. The lion made off, but the ball that he had received 
oz^^/z/ to have stopped him, as it went clear through his shoulder-blade. 
He was followed up and killed, after having charged several times. Both 
lions were males. The buffalo had of course gone close to where the 
lions were lying down, and they seeing him lame and bleeding, thought the 
opportunity too good a one to be lost. It is not often that one bags a 
brace of lions and a bull buffalo in about ten minutes." 

Captain Speke, in his " Journal of the Discovery of the Nile," relates 
the experience of a day in hunting the buffalo. Accompanied by two 
natives, he had met a large herd early in the day, and followed them 
some time, killing a cow, and wounding several others, among them a 
bull. "As they knew they were pursued they kept moving on in short 
runs at a time, when, occasionally gaining glimpses of their large dark 
bodies as they forced through the bush, I repeated my shots and struck 
a good number, some more and some less severely. This was very pro- 
voking ; for all of them, being stern shots, were not likely to kill, and 
the jungle was so thick I could not get a front view of them. 

" Presently, however, one with her hind-leg broken pulled up on a 
white-ant hill, and, tossing her horns, came down on a charge the instant 
I showed myself close to her. One crack of the rifle rolled her over. 
Following the spoors, the traces of blood led us up to another one as 
lame as the last. He then got a second bullet in the flank, and, after 
hobbling a little, evaded our sight and threw himself into a bush, where 
we no sooner arrived than he plunged headlong at us from his ambush, 
just, and only just, giving me time to present my rifle. 

" It was a most ridiculous scene. Suliman by my side, with the 
instinct of a monkey, made a violent spring and swung himself by a 
bough immediately over the beast, while Faraj bolted away and left me 
single-gunned to polish him off There was only one course to pursue, 
for in one instant more he would have been into me; so, quick as 
thought, I fired the gun, and, as luck would have it, my bullet, after 
passing through the edge of one of his horns, stuck in the spine of his 
neck, and rolled him over at my feet as dead as a rabbit. 

" We commenced retracing our steps. Tracking back to the first post 
of attack, we followed the blood of the first bull, till at length I found 



252 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

him standing like a stuck pig in some bushes, looking as if he would like 
to be put out of his misery. Taking compassion, I leveled my gun ; but 
as bad luck would have it, a bough intercepted the flight of the bullet^ 
and it went ' pinging ' into the air, while the bull went off at a gallop. 
To follow on was no difficulty, the spoor was so good; and in ten 
minutes more, as I opened a small clearance, rifle in hand, the great 
beast, from the thicket at the opposite side, charged down like a mad bull, 
full of ferocity — as ugly an antagonist as ever I saw, for the front of 
his head was all shielded with horn. A small mound fortunately stood 
between us, and as he rounded it, I jumped to one side and let fly at his 
flank, but without the effect of stopping him ; for, as quick as thought, 
the huge monster was at my feet, battling with the impalpable smoke of 
my gun, which fortunately hung so thick on the ground at the height of 
his head that he could not see me, though I was so close that I might, 
had I been possessed of a hatchet, have chopped off his head. This was 
a predicament that looked very ugly, for my boys had both bolted, 
taking with them my guns ; but suddenly the beast, evidently regarding 
the smoke as a phantom which could not be mastered, turned round in 
a bustle, to my intense relief, and galloped off at full speed, as if scared 
off at some terrible apparition." 

Such are some of the thrilling adventures among the wild animals of 
Africa. Livingstone often escaped starvation by the expert use of his gun. 

Flying- for Ljfe. 

Proceeding with our narrative, from Masantu's the march back to 
Chikumbi, where Mohammed and his party had been left, was com- 
menced, and in August the settlement of an Arab trader named Kombo- 
kombo, a little to the south of Chikumbi, was reached. Here Living- 
stone was cheered by the news that Mohammed was contemplating a 
journey west, which would take him to the great Lualaba. " The way 
seems opening before me," he exclaims, "and I am thankful." Before 
arrangements for accompanying Mohammed could be made, however, 
came rumors of war on the other side of the Lualaba. Syde bin Omar, 
an Arab trader from Iramba, the country on its western shores between 
Lake Bangweolo and the Rua district, declared it would be madness to 
attempt any explorations in that direction. 

Mohammed therefore readily gave up his scheme for the present, and 
united with Omar in objecting strongly to Livingstone's going with his 
small party even down the right bank of the Lualaba, though it was in 
sight. Our hero resolved then to wait until all were ready to go, little 
dreaming that the delay would last until the beginning of October, that 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 



253 



the country would be convulsed with war, and that when he did leave 
Chikumbi it would be to flee to the north for his life. First came a raid 




from devastating hordes of Mazitu, who were repulsed by the united 
forces of the Arab traders and the native chiefs ; then a quarrel between 
the successful allies, resulting in an attack, headed by Casembe and 



254 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Chikumbi, on the Arabs, beginning with the Kombokombo mentioned 
above. , 

Confusion now prevailed everywhere. The daily entries in Living- 
stone's journals became impossible, but on the 5th of October he writes 
how he and his little band of servants were on one occasion surrounded 
by a party of fifteen or twenty natives, who attacked them with spears 
and poisoned arrows ; how " one good soul helped them away — a bless- 
ing be on him and his ; " how he narrowly escaped from the hands of 
another chief, who took him and his men for Mazitu ; and how, lastly, he 
joined forces with the Arab traders, and started north, fences being built 
every night to protect the united camps, which were, however, unmolested 
till the northern bank of the Kalongosi river was reached. 

Here 500 natives were drawn up to dispute the passage, but as Living- 
stone and an advanced party with thirty guns crossed over they retired. 
Our hero, however, went amongst them, explained who he was, was 
recognized by some old acquaintances, and obtained a truce for the 
Arabs. All became friendly, an elephant was killed, stores of provisions 
were bought, and two days later the march was resumed. 

Kabwawata, on the north-west of Lake Moero, was reached, and an- 
other long delay ensued before the Arab traders were again ready to 
start. The time was employed by Livingstone in making an exhaustive 
resume of his own work and that of his predecessors in connection with 
the Nile, his conviction being that in Lake Bangweolo he had found the 
final, or at least one of the final, sources of that great river. The work 
of Cameron and Stanley has, however, since proved the Lualaba to be 
the upper course, not, as supposed by Livingstone, of the Nile, but of 
the Congo, and we therefore pass over all that the hero of our present 
chapter urges in support of the former view. 

Return of Deserters. 

Whilst Livingstone was at Kabwawata he was cheered by the return 
of some of the men who had deserted before the trip to Bangweolo, and 
now begged to be taken back. Readily forgiven by their master, who 
observes that there was great excuse for them, after the conduct of their 
Johanna comrades, they now became apparently devoted to his service, 
though we shall presently have to relate their renewed faithlessness. 

Once more surrounded by the retinue who had come with him from 
Lake Nyassa, Livingstone started for Ujiji with the Arabs in December^ 
his party and Mohammed's leading the way. The march to Tanganyika, 
which was in a more northerly direction than the westward journey, 
seems to have been one long agony to Livingstone. In his journal he 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 255 

tells of heavy rains impeding progress, the escape and recapture of slaves^ 
and the hostility of villagers ; but the entries became shorter and shorter, 
and on the first of January, 1869, he records that the new year was 
opening badly ; "he had been wet times without number, but the wet- 
ting of yesterday was once too often ; he felt very ill," and in crossing 
the Lofuko, within some six weeks' journey of the lake, he was " cold up 
to the waist," which made him worse, though he struggled on for another 
two hours and a half 

On the 3d January, after one hour's march, he found himself too weak 
to go further ; his lungs were affected ; he did not know how the next 
few days were passed. A rill was crossed, and sheds were built, but 
whether he took any share in the work he cannot tell. " I lost count," 
he says, " of the days of the week and month after this," but about Jan- 
uary 7th he managed to write the following touching sentence : 

" I cannot walk. Pneumonia of right lung, and I cough all day and 
all night; distressing weakness. Ideas flow through the mind with great 
rapidity and vividness, in groups of twos and threes. If I look at any 
piece of wood, the bark seems covered all over with figures and faces of 
men, and they remain though I look away and turn to the same spot 
again. I saw myself lying dead in the way to Ujiji, and all the letters I 
expected there useless. When I think of my children and friends, the 
lines run through my head perpetually — 

' I shall look into your faces, 

And listen to what you say, 
And be often very near you 
When you think I am far away.' 

Mohammed Mogharib came up, and I have got a cupper, who cupped 

my chest." 

Serious Illness. 

A little further we have the following entry, dated the 8th January : 
" Mohammed Mogharib offered to carry me. I am so weak, I can 
scarcely speak. We are in Marungu proper now — a pretty but steeply 
undulating country. This is the first time in my life I have been carried 
in illness, but I cannot raise myself to the sitting posture. No food ex- 
cept a little gruel. Great distress in coughing all night long; feet 
swelled and sore. I am carried four hours each day on a kitanda or 
frame, like a Cot ; carried eight hours one day. We seem near the brim 
of Tanganyika. Mohammed Mogharib is very kind to me in my ex- 
treme weakness ; but carriage is painful ; head down and feet up alter- 
nates with feet down and head up ; jolted up and down sideways — 
changing shoulders involves a toss from one side to the other of the 



256 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

kitanda. The sun is vertical, blistering any part of the skin exposed, 
and I try to shelter my face and head as well as I can with a bunch of 
leaves, but it is dreadfully fatiguing in my weakness." 

After this we have no note for five weeks. Then, on the 14th Feb- 
ruary, 1869, the arrival at Tanganyika is announced, succeeded by a few 
lines to the effect that Livingstone felt if he did not get to Ujiji, where he 
could have proper food and medicine, soon he must die. 

Not until late in the same month, after fearful sufferings in a miserable 
hut infested with vermin on the shores of the lake, were canoes obtained, 
and the transit begun. A little revived by the pure air on the water, 
and already near Ujiji, he had hoped soon to be in that village, where he 
believed letters from home and stores from Zanzibar must long have been 
awaiting him. 

The Same Dauntless Hero. 

On the 14th of March, Ujiji was at last reached, but, on landing, our 
hero found that more than half his goods had been made away with, and 
that the road to Unyanyembe was blocked up by a Mazitu war. No 
hope of receiving anything more from the east for the present, no hope of 
getting home by way of Zanzibar; but not one repining word is uttered 
by Livingstone in the now more frequent notes in his journal. He says 
nothing about the improvement in his health, though that is implied in 
the plans he hints at for further researches on the west. No change of 
purpose is allowed to result from all he has undergone. He has reached 
Ujiji; he is better. He will make Ujiji the starting point for a journey 
direct to Manyuema, far aVay on the north-west, not only of Moero, but 
of that other unseen lake known as Kamolondo, and supposed by him to 
be the most northerly and elevated of the series of which Bangweolo is 
probably the lowest and most southerly. 

Forty-two letters were now written home, and entrusted to Arabs for 
transmission to Zanzibar, but they never reached their destination, and 
are supposed to have been wantonly destroyed. One ingenious theory 
respecting the relation of Tanganyika to the other lakes of Central 
Africa is worked out after another — what is the meaning of the current 
. setting towards the north? — is the long narrow sheet of water only a 
river after all ? — if a lake, has it an outlet, and, if so, where is that outlet ? 
— such are some of the questions propounded, but not answered, by the 
great explorer, as he bides his time for an opportunity to go and see the 
great rivers reported to intersect Manyuema, that unknown country of 
which little more than rumors had then reached even the Arab traders of 
Ujiji. 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 257 

Presently came rumors of vast herds of elephants in Manyuema, and 
of a sturdy race of blacks differing essentially from any of those yet met 
with. A horde of Arabs determined to go and test the truth of these 
reports. 

The dangers incident to elephant hunting in all this part of Africa are 
vividly seen in the following narrative, related by a member of a hunting 
party who was a participant in the perilous sport : 

"We had bagged a good many birds, when a beautiful little gazelle 
came bounding across our path. It put me in mind of an Italian grey- 
hound, only it had a longer neck and was somewhat larger. I was quite 




HUNTER ATTACKED BY A BULL ELEPHANT. 

sorry when Chickango (a native connected with our party), firing, knocked 
it over. It was, however, a welcome addition to our game bag. He 
called it Ncheri. It was the most elegant little creature I met with in 
Africa among the numberless beautiful animals which abound in the re- 
gions we passed through. 

"We were at the time proceeding along the foot of a hill. Scarcely 
had he fired, when a loud trumpeting was heard, and directly afterwards 
we saw a negro rushing through the underwood, followed by a huge ele- 
phant. 'Up! up the hill!' cried Chickango, suiting the action to the 
word. I followed, for as we were wishing to kill birds alone, my gun was 
loaded only with small shot. The elephant made towards us. The negro 

17 



258 \ WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

stranger came bounding on. Chickango and I had got some way up the 
hill, but Wilson, one of our number, who stood his ground, was engaged 
in ramming home a bullet. The elephant had all the time been keeping 
one eye on the black and one on us. 

"When I thought he was on the point of seizing us, he suddenly turned 
on his first assailant. The black darted to a tree, when the elephant 
seizing him with his trunk, threw him with tremendous force to the ground. 
This enabled Wilson to spring up after us; and the hill being very steep, 
with rolling stones, we hoped that we were there safe from the infuriated 
beast. It cast a glance at the unfortunate black, who was endeavoring to 
crawl away along the ground. Again the elephant was about to seize 
him with his trunk, and in an instant would have crushed him to death,, 
when Wilson, raising his gun, fired, and struck the creature in the most 
vulnerable part — behind the ear. The ball must have entered the brain,, 
for, sinking down instantly, it rolled over, and, we thought, must have 
killed the black by its weight. 

"He was Still Breatliingr." 

" We hurried down, hoping that there might yet be time to save the 
poor fellow's life, regardless at the moment of our victory, which, with 
hunters in general, would have been a cause of triumph. As we got 
round, we found the black had narrowly escaped being crushed to death; 
indeed, as it was, his legs appeared to lie almost under the monster's back. 
We drew him out, however, and to our satisfaction found that he was stilL 
breathing. Chickango said that he belonged to the Bakeles, and was 
probably a chief hunter among them. As, however, we were much nearer 
our own abode than their village, Wilson and I agreed to carry him 
with us, somewhat I fancied, to Chickango's astonishment. *Oh! he 
black fellow, he die; what use carry?' he remarked. Of course we kept 
our own opinion, hoping that with our doctor's skill the poor man might 
recover. He was unable to speak, and was indeed apparently uncon- 
scious. 

"'Had my rifle been loaded with ball, I should have saved that poor 
fellow the last fearful crush; and in the future we must not go without 
one or two of our fowling-pieces loaded with ball,' obsei^ved Wilson ram- 
ming down a bullet into his rifle." 

" Chickango and I did the same. We then constructed a rough litter^ 
on which we placed the injured negro. We bore him along, a porter and 
Chickango carrying the head and I the feet part of the litter. We found 
the weight considerable, especially over the rough ground we had to 
traverse, but the life of a fellow-creature depended upon our perseverance. 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 



259 



Chickango carefully noted the spot where the elephant lay, that we might 
return as soon as possible for some of the meat and the tusks, which were 
very large. We reached the spot where our friends were cutting out the 
canoe just as they were about to leave it, and we were thankful to have 
their assistance in carrying the stranger. The doctor instantly applied 
himself to examining the hurts of the negro. He found that his left arm 




A FAMILY OF LION MONKEYS. 

had been broken, and the ribs on the same side severely crushed. 'The 
injuries might be serious for a white man,' he observed; 'but the blood 
of an African, unheated by the climate, escapes inflammation, and I have 
hopes that he may recover.' Chickango was very eager to set out im- 
mediately, in order to bring in the eleahant's tusks and some meat, but 
Wilson considered that it was too late in the day, and put off the expedi- 
tion till the following morning. 



260 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

"We were somewhat later in starting than we intended. We carried 
baskets and ropes, to bring with us the ivory and a supply of meat. On 
reaching the spot, however, where the huge monster lay, we found that 
others had been before us. The tusks were gone, and a portion of the 
flesh. Innumerable birds of prey, also, were tearing away at it, or seated 
on the surrounding trees devouring the pieces they had carried off, while 
hyenas, already gorged, crept sulkily away, doubting whether they should 
attack us or not. The spectacle was almost ghastly, and it showed how 
soon a mountain of flesh might disappear in that region. 
Beautiful Little Monkeys. 

"Chickango was greatly disappointed, as not a particle of flesh which 
he could touch remained, while, of course, we regretted the loss of the 
valuable tusks. On our way back, we caught sight of a number of beau- 
tiful little monkeys skipping about in the trees. Chickango called them 
"oshingui." They were the smallest I ever saw. Below the trees where 
they had their abode ran a small stream ; and Chickango told me they 
were very fond of water, and were never found at a distance from it. On 
the same trees, and playing with them, were numerous birds, called mon- 
key-birds from their apparent attachment to those creatures. 

" We saw another very beautiful little bird, with an extremely long flowing 
tail of pure milk-white. It had a crest on its head of a greenish black, 
and its breast was of the same color, while lower down the feathers were 
of an ashy brown. Snow-white feathers on the back rose up, like those 
of the birds of paradise, to which it had a strong resemblance. Soon 
after this I saw some creatures on the ground, and catching hold of one 
of them, I found it was an enormous ant of a greenish white color, with 
a head of a reddish black. The, fangs were so powerful that when I put 
my fingers to them, they literally tore a piece of flesh out. 

"'Why, these creatures would eat us all up, if we were to encounter 
them as we did those the other day,' I remarked. 

" ' No fear massa,' answered a native. ' Dey no come in same way. 
Dey no go into house, no climb tree, and only just a few hundred or 
t'ousand march together.' 

" It was satisfactory to hear this, for really I felt that should an army 
invade us, we might have more reason to dread them than the blacks 
themselves. I was not soriy to miss the elephant flesh, for I had not for- 
gotten the tough morsals we had placed between our teeth when pre- 
sented to us by the friendly blacks soon after we landed." 

The journey to Manyuema commenced on the 12th of July, 1869. 
After crossing the lake, the line of march was directly north-west until 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 



261 



Bambarre, the district of a friendly chief named Moenekuss, was reached 
in September. Numerous rivers and minor streams were crossed on the 
way, some flowing into Tanganyika, and others westward the Lualaba; 
the district near the lake is mountainous and covered with dense forests. 
The Manyuema country is described by Livingstone as surpassingly 
beautiful. 



Palms crown the 
highest heights of the 
mountains, and their 
gracefully bended 
fronds wave beauti- 
fully in the wind ; 
and the forests, usu- 
ally about five miles 
broad, between 
groups of villages, 
are indescribable. 
Climbers of cable 
size in great numbers 
are hung among the 
gigantic trees, many 
unknown wild frui'ts 
abound, some the 
size of a child's head, 
and strange birds and 
monkeys are every- 
where. The soil is 
excessively rich, and 
the people, although 
isolated by old feuds 
that are never settled, 
cultivate largely. 

They have selected 
a kind of maize that 
bends its fruit-stalk ants on the march. 

round into a hook, and hedges some eighteen feet high are made by insert- 
ing poles, which sprout like Robinson Crusoe's hedge, and never decay. 
Lines of climbing plants are tied so as to go along from pole to pole, 
and the maize-cobs are suspended to these by their own hooked fruit- 
stalk. As the corn-cob is forming, the hook is turned round, so that the 




262 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

fruit-leaves of it hang down and form a hatch for the grain beneath or 
inside it. This upright granary forms a solid-looking wall round the vil- 
lages, and the people are not stingy, but take down the maize and hand 
it to the men freely. 

The streets of the villages often run east and west, in order that the 
bright blazing sun may lick up the moisture quickly from off them. The 
dwelling houses are generally in line, with public meeting-houses at each 
end, opposite the middle of the street ; the roofs are low, but well 
thatched with a leaf resembling the banana-leaf, from which the water 
runs quickly off. The walls are of well-beaten clay, and screened from 
the weather. Inside, the dwellings are clean and comfortable, and before 
the Arabs came, bugs were unknown. In some places, where the south- 
east rains are abundant, the Manyuema place the back of the houses to 
this quarter, and prolong the low roof down, so that the rain does not 
reach the walls. These clay walls stand for ages, and men often return 
to the villages they left in infancy and build again the portions that 
many rains have washed away. Each housewife has from twenty-five to 
thirty earthen pots slung to the ceiling by very neat cord-swinging tas- 
sels ; and often as many neatly-made baskets hung up in the same fashion, 
and much firewood. 

The population is very large, and the people are fine-looking; Living- 
stone thinks that a crowd of Londoners, divested of their clothing and 
set opposite a crowd of Manyuema, would make a sorry spectacle. The 
people are very naked, answering to Cowper's lines: 

" Time was, when clothing, sumptuous or for use. 
Save their own painted skins, our sires had none, 
As yet black breeches were not ; satin, smooth, ' 

Or velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile ; 
The hardy chief upon the rugged rock 
Washed by the sea, or on the grav'ly bank 
Thrown up by wintry torrents roaring loud, 
Fearless of wrong, reposed his weary strength." 

The natives plait the hair into the form of a basket behind ; it is first 
rolled into a very long coil, then wound around something till it is about 
eight or ten inches long, projecting from the back of the head. The 
Manyuema, with their great numbers, their favored country, and their 
industrious habits, would seem to possess all the elements of a strong 
and progressive nation; but they are among the most barbarous tribes 
of Central Africa. 

They are cannibals of the most degraded sort, for they eat the bodies 
of those who die of disease; they are suspicious, vindictive, and cruel; 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 263 

and they are so quarrelsome and treacherous that inhabitants of one 
village or district seldom dare venture beyond the confines of the next. 
Even Livingstone's large charity, quickened as it was by the outrages to 
Avhich he saw them subjected at the hands of the Arabs, could find but 
little that was good in them except their physique. " The Manyuema," 
he says, after a long stay among them had made him familiar with their 
ihabits, "are the most bloody, callous savages I know; one puts a scarlet 
ifeather from a parrot's tail on the ground, and challenges those near to 
stick it in the hair : he who does so must kill a man or woman ! An- 
■other custom is that none dare wear the skin of the musk cat, ngawa, 
lunless he has murdered somebody : guns alone prevented them from 
killing us all, and for no reason either." 

One of the great institutions of the Manyuema country is their mar- 
■kets, held in certain villages and at stated times. Even in war-time mar- 
ket people are allowed to pass freely to and from the fairs with their 
wares. People from distant districts collect here, and exchange their 
surplus product for Manyuema luxuries. Fish-wives, goat-herds, slave- 
<owners; dealers in ivory, palm oil, pottery, skins, cloth, and iron-ware; 
sellers of fruit, vegetables, salt, grain, and fowls, all mingle in the motley 
•throng, and shout the merits of their particular goods at the top of their 
lungs, and with a perseverance and ardor that would make the fortune 
of an auctioneer at home. Strange varieties of savage costume and no 
•costume are to be seen in these groups : the wild Balegga man-eater 
:stalking side by side with the white-skirted Moslem man-hunter from 
Zanzibar ; and the plumed, painted, tattooed, and bespangled chieftain 
laying his dignity temporarily aside to chaffer with a poor commoner in 
liis simple waistcloth, over the price of a pig or of a mess of roasted 
ivhite ants. 

Dreadful Massacre. 

At Nyangwe there was a market once in eveiy four days, and the 
assemblage generally numbered about three thousand. One fdir day the 
Arabs, who had been sauntering peaceably among the crowd, suddenly 
produced their arms and began firing on the helpless multitude, chiefly 
composed of women. Flinging down their Avares, the panic-stricken 
people fled on all sides, many of them dashing into the river that flowed 
close by, or cHmbing into boats that filled and sank with the numbers 
that crowded into them. The market-place was strewn with the dead 
and dying, and with the confused heaps of merchandise which had been 
dropped or thrown down in the flight, while the murderous scoundrels 
<:ontinued firing so long as the^'' could see a victim to aim at. 



264 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



Livingstone believed that five hundred Hves were sacrificed in this 
unprovoked massacre. The object was to "strike terror" into the 
hearts of the inhabitants, and show them the irresistible power of the 
gun. The result was that the country became too hot to hold the mur- 
derers. 

Having rested at Bambarre until November, Livingstone resolved to 
go west to the Lualaba, and buy a canoe for its exploration. Travelling 
was very difficult, as it was now the rainy season ; and the attitude of the 
natives became so threatening that after penetrating to within ten miles 




MARKET IN MANYUEMA. 

of the Lualaba he was compelled to turn back and return to Bambarre. 
Towards the end of December he set out with Mohammed's ivory party„ 
hoping to reach another part of the Lualaba, and thus carry out his origi- 
nal scheme. The route pursued was due north, and was followed for 
about a month; but rheumatism and \yeakness, accompanied by a chol- 
eraic complaint, drove him back, and in February, 1870, he went into 
winter quarters at Mamohela, a town some distance north of Bambarre^ 
which the Arabs had made their chief depot. Here he remained several 
months, regaining strength, and making preparations for further explor- 
rations and discoveries. 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 265- 

In June a third attempt was made to reach Lualaba, which proved even 
more disastrous than either of the preceding ones. In the first place 
most of his men deserted him, so that he was obliged to start with only- 
three attendants The country proved exceedingly difficult from forest 
and water ; trees fallen across the path formed a breast-high wall which 
had to be climbed over ; flooded rivers, breast and neck deep, had to be 
crossed ; the mud was awful ; and nothing but villages eight or ten miles 
apart, the people of which were far from friendly. For the first time in 
his life Livingstone's feet failed him ; instead of healing quietly, as here- 
tofore, when torn by hard travel, irritable eating-ulcers fastened on both 
feet, and he was barely able to limp back to Mamohela in July^ 
The ulcers now laid him up. If the foot were put to the ground a 
discharge of bloody ichor followed, and the same discharge happened 
every night with considerable pain that prevented sleep. They eat 
through everything — muscle, tendon, and bone; and medicines have 
very little elTect upon them. Their periodicity would seem to indi- 
cate that they are allied to fever. For eighty days Livingstone never 
came out . of his hut ; and even then the ulcers had only begun to 
heal. 

His journal shows that during the period of his confinement Living- 
stone was gathering information from both natives and Arabs as to the 
great lake and river system which he had discovered ; speculating with 
apparent seriousness upon the possibility of Moses having penetrated to 
this region and founded the lost city of Meroe ; and observing the habits 
of the people. He learned that another large lake, called Chibungo, lay 
about twelve days distant \vest from the Lualaba; and that a large river, 
which he called Lualaba West, flows out of it in a north-easterly direc- 
tion and empties into the main stream. 

To the central Lualaba, or main stream, he gave the name of "Webb's 
River;" to the western, "Young's River;" and to Chibungo, "Lake 
Lincoln," in honor of our own President Lincoln. 

Concerning one whose name was given to a river, Livingstone says : 
" Osvvell and Webb were fellow-travellers, and mighty hunters. Too 
much engrossed myself with mission-work to hunt, except for the chil- 
dren's larder, when going to visit distant tribes, I relished the sight of 
fair stand-up fights by my friends with the large denizens of the forest, 
and admired the true Nimrod class for their great courage, truthfulness, 
and honor." 

Under date of August 24th he gives an interesting account of the 
soko, which he believed to be identical with the gorilla, but which Mr. 



:266 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Waller is probably right in regarding as an entirely new species of chim- 
panzee. The narrative is as follows : 

Four gorillas or sokos were killed yesterday : an extensive grass-burn- 
ing forced them out of their usual haunt, and coming on the plain they 
were speared. They often go erect, but place the hand on the head as 
if to steady the body. When seen thus, the soko is an ungainly beast. 
The most sentimental young lady would not call him a " dear," but a 
bandy-legged, pot-bellied, low-looking villain, without a particle of the 
gentleman in him. Other animals, especially the antelopes, are graceful, 
and it is pleasant to see them either at rest or in motion : the natives are 
also well made, lithe and comely to behold ; but the soko, if large, would 
do well to stand for a picture of the devil. 

He takes away my appetite by the disgusting bestiality of appearance. 
His light-yellow face shows off his ugly whiskers, and faint apology for 
a beard ; the foreground of the great dog-mouth ; the teeth are slightly 
human, but the canines show the beast by their large development. The 
hands, or rather the fingers, are like those of the natives. The flesh of 
•the feet is yellow, and the eagerness with which the Manyuema devour it 
leaves the impression that eating sokos was the first stage by which 
they arrived at being cannibals ; they say that the flesh is delicious. 
Freaks of a Strange Animal. 

The soko is represented by some to be extremely knowing, success- 
fully stalking men and women while at their work, kidnapping children 
and running up trees with,them — he seems to be amused by the sight of 
the young native in his arms, but comes down Avhen tempted by a bunch 
of bananas, and as he lifts that, drops the child : the young soko in such 
a case would cling closely to the armpit of the elder. One man was cut- 
ting out honey from a tree, and naked, when a soko suddenly appeared 
and caught him, then let him go : another man Avas hunting, and missed 
in his attempt to stab a soko ; it seized the spear and broke it ; then grap- 
pled with the man, who called to his companions, " Soko has caught 
me;" the soko bit off the ends of his fingers and escaped unharmed. 
Both men are now alive at Bambarre. 

The soko is cunning and has such sharp eyes that no one can stalk 
him in front without being seen, hence, when shot, it is always in the 
back ; when surrounded by men and nets, he is often speared in the back 
too ; otherwise he is not a very formidable beast ; he is nothing as com- 
pared in power of damaging his assailant to a leopard or lion, but is 
more like a man unarmed, for it does not occur to him to use his canine 
teeth, which are long and formidable. Numbers of them come down in 




(2B7) 



268 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the forest within a hundred yards of our camp, and would be unknown 
but for giving tongue Hke fox-hounds ; this is their nearest approach to 
speech. A man hoeing was stalked by a soko, and seized ; he roared 
out, but the soko giggled and grinned, and left him as if he had done it 
in play. A child caught up by a soko is often abused by being pinched 
and scratched, and let fall. 

Never Attacks Women. 

The soko kills the leopard occasionally, by seizing both paws and 
biting them so as to disable them; he then goes up a tree, groans over 
his wounds, and some time recovers, while the leopard dies: at other 
times both soko and leopard die. The lion kills him at once, and some- 
times tears his limbs off, but does not eat him. The soko eats no flesh — 
small bananas are his dainties, but no maize. His food consists of wild 
fruits which abound. The soko brings forth at times twins. A very large 
soko was. seen by Mohammed's hunters sitting picking his nails; they 
tried to stalk him, but he vanished. Some Manyuema think that their 
buried dead rise as sokos, and one was killed with holes in his ears, as if 
he had been a man. He is very strong, and fears guns but not spears;, 
he never catches women. 

Sokos collect together and make a drumming noise, some say with, 
hollow trees, then burst forth into loud yells which are well imitated by 
the natives' embryotic music. If a man has no spear, the soko goes 
away satisfied, but if wounded he seizes the wrist, lops off the fingers, 
and spits them out, slaps* the cheek of his victim, and bites without 
breaking the skin: he draws out a spear (but never uses it), and takes 
some leaves and stuffs them into his wound to staunch the blood; he 
does not wish an encounter with an armed man. He sees women do 
him no harm, and never molests them; a man without a spear is nearly 
safe from him. They beat hollow trees as drums with hands, and then 
scream as music to it; when men hear them, they go to the sokos; but 
sokos never go to men with hostility. Manyuema say, "Soko is a man, 
and nothing bad in him." 

They live in communities of about ten, each having his own female ;. 
an intruder from another camp is beaten off with their fists and loud 
yells. If one tries to seize the female of another, he is caught on the 
ground, and all unite in boxing and biting the offender. A male often 
carries a child, especially if they are passing from one patch of forest to 
another over a grassy space; he then gives it to the mother. 

Later on, one of the Arabs caught a young female soko whose mother 
had been killed, and gave it to Livingstone, who gives the following 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 269 

amusing account of it: She is eighteen inches high, has fine long black 
hair all over, Avhich was pretty, so long as it was kept in order by her 
dam. She is the least mischievous of all the monkey tribe I have seen, 
and seems to know that in me she has a friend, and sits quietly on the 
mat beside me. In walking, the first thing observed is that she does not 
tread on the palms of her hands, but on the backs of the second line of 
bones of the hands: in doing this the nails do not touch the ground, nor 
<io the knuckles; she uses the arms thus supported crutch fashion, and 
hitches herself along between them; occasionally one hand is put down 
before the other, and alternates with the feet, or she walks upright and 
holds up a hand to any one to carry her. 

If refused, she turns her face down, and makes grimaces of the most 
bitter human weeping, wringing her hands, and sometimes adding a 
fourth hand or foot to make the appeal more touching. Grass or leaves 
she draws around her to make a nest, and resents anyone meddling with 
Jier property. She is a most friendly little beast, and came up to me at 
once, making her chirrup of welcome, smelled my clothing, and held out 
her hand to be shaken. She eats everything, covers herself with a mat 
to sleep, and makes a nest of grass or leaves, and wipes her face with a 
leaf. * 

Sliocking- Barbarity. 

The arrival of ten men from Ujiji with stores early in 1871, enabled 
Livingstone to penetrate to the Lualaba; but he was unable, after the 
most strenuous efforts, to procure a boat to descend the river, and his 
men utterly refused to cross over into the^ountry beyond. 

While staying on the banks of the Lualaba, which he found to be a 
•mighty river, at least 3,000 yards broad and always deep, he witnessed a 
scene so shocking that he could stand the companionship of the Arabs 
no longer, and resolved to return at once to Ujiji. Almost from the day 
the Arab hordes entered the country petty outrages on either side had 
kept up a chronic state of hostility between them and the natives; and 
as their stay was protracted these outrages became gradually more 
numerous and more murderous. At the time when the scene referred to 
occurred, Livingstone was staying at the headquarters of Dugumbe, who 
had a large ivory- hunting party with him. 

His people seemed to be on friendly enough terms with the natives; 
"but one day in July the Arabs in camp became very much incensed on 
learning that Kimburu and several other local chiefs had mixed the blood 
of friendship with a slave named -Manilla. The result shall be given in 
Livingstone's own words: 



270 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The reports of guns on the other side of the Lualaba all the morning- 
tell of the people of Dugumbe murdering those of Kimburu and others 
who mixed blood yvith Manilla. " Manilla is a slave, and how dares he 
to mix blood with chiefs who ought only to make friends with free men 
like us?" — This is their complaint. Kimburu gave Manilla three slaves, 
and he sacked ten villages in token of friendship; he proposed to give 
Dugumbe nine slaves in the same operation, but Dugumbe's people 
destroy his villages, and shoot and make his people captives to punish 
Manilla; to make an impression, in fact, in the country that they alone 
are to be dealt with — "make friends with us, and not with Manilla or 
anyone else" — such is what they insist upon. 

About 1,500 people came to market, though many villages of those 
that usually come from the other side were now in flames, and every now 
and then a number of shots were fired on the fugitives. 
Panic-stricken Crowd. 

It was a hot, sultry day, and when I went into the market I saw Adie 
and Manilla, and three of the men who had lately come with Dugumbe. 
I was surprised to see these three with their guns, and felt inclined to 
reprove them, as one of my men did, for bringing weapons into the 
market, but I attributed it to their ignorance, and, it being very hot, I 
was walking away to go out of the market, when I saw one of the fellows 
haggling about a fowl, and seizing hold of it. Before I had got thirty 
yards out, the discharge of two guns in the middle of the crowd told me 
that slaughter had begun: g:rowds dashed off from the place, and ran. . 

At the same time that the three opened fire on the mass of people 
near the upper end of the market-place volleys were discharged from a 
party down near the creek on the panic-stricken women, who dashed at 
the canoes. These, some fifty or more, were jammed in the creek, and 
the men forgot their paddles in the terror that seized all. The canoes 
were not to be got out, for the creek was too small for so many; men 
and women, wounded by the balls, poured into them, and leaped and 
scrambled into the water, shrieking. A long line of heads in the river 
showed that great numbers struck out for an island a full mile off: in 
going towards it they had to put the left shoulder to a current of about 
two miles an hour; if they had struck away diagonally to the opposite 
bank, the current would have aided them, and, though nearly three miles 
off, some would have gained land; as it was, the heads above water 
showed the long line of those that would inevitably perish. 

Shot after shot continued to be fired on the helpless and perishing^ 
Some of the long line of heads disappeared quietly ; whilst other poor 




(271) 



■272 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

creatures threw their arms high, as if appeah'ng to the great Father 
above, and sank. One canoe took in as many as it could hold, and all 
paddled with hands and arms: three canoes, got out in haste, picked up 
sinking friends, till all went down together, and disappeared. One man 
in a long canoe, which could have held forty or fifty, had clearly lost his 
head ; he had been out in the stream before the massacre began, and now 
paddled up the river nowhere, and never looked to the drowning. 

By and by all the heads disappeared; some had turned down stream 
towards the bank, and escaped. Dugumbe put people into one of the 
deserted vessels to save those in the water, and saved twenty-one, but 
one woman refused to be taken on board from thinking that she was to 
be made a slave of; she preferred the chance of life by swimming to the 
lot of a slave : the Bagenya women are expert in the water, as they are 
accustomed to dive for oysters, and those that went down stream may 
have escaped, but the Arabs themselves estimated the loss of life at 
between 330 and 400 souls. The shooting-party near the canoes were 
so reckless, they killed two of their own people ; and a Banyamwezi fol- 
lower, who got into a deserted canoe to plunder, fell into the water, went 
down, then came up again, and down to rise no more, 
Sliameful Cruelty and Destruction. 

My first impulse was to pistol the murderers, but Dugumbe protested 
against my getting into a blood-feud, and I was thankful afterwards that 
I took his advice. Two wretched Moslems asserted " that the firing was 
done by the people of the English;" I asked one of them why he lied 
so, and he could utter no excuse : no other falsehood came to his aid as 
he stood abashed before me, and so telling him not to tell palpable false- 
hoods, I left him gaping. 

After the terrible affair in the water, the party of Tagamoio, who was 
the chief perpetrator, continued to fire on the people there, and fire their 
villages. As I write I hear the loud wails on the left bank over those 
who are there slain, ignorant of their many friends now in the depths of 
Lualaba. Oh, let Thy Kingdom come ! No one will ever know the 
exact loss on this bright sultry summer morning ; it gave me the impres- 
sion of being in hell. All the slaves in the camp rushed at the fugitives 
on land, and plundered them : women were for hours collecting and car- 
rying loads of what had been thrown down in terror. 

I proposed to Dugumbe to catch the murderers, and hang them up in 
the market-place, as our protest against the bloody deeds before the 
Manyuema. If, as he and others added, the massacre was committed by 
Manillo's people, he would have consented ; but it was done by Taga- 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 273 

moio's people, and others of this party, headed by Dugumbe. This 
slaughter was peculiarly atrocious, inasmuch as we have always heard 
that women coming to or from market have never been known to be 
anolested : even when two districts are engaged in actual hostilities, " the 
women," say they, " pass among us to market unmolested ; " nor has one 
'ever been know to be plundered by the men. These Nigger Moslems 
■are inferior to the Manyuema in justice and right. The people under 
Hassani began the superwickedness of capture and pillage of all indis- 
criminately. Dugumbe promised to send over men to order Tagamoio's 
men to cease firing and burning the villages ; they remained over among 
the ruins, feasting on goats and fowls all night, and next day continued 
their infamous work till twenty-seven villages were destroyed. 

The murderous assault on the market people, felt to me like Gehenna, 
-without the fire and brimstone ; but the heat was oppressive, and the fire- 
arms pouring their iron bullets in the fugitives, was not an inapt repre- 
sentation of burning in the bottomless pit. The terrible scenes of man's 
inhumanity to man brought on a severe headache, which might have been 
serious had it not been relieved by a copious discharge of blood ; I was 
laid up all yesterday afternoon with the depression the bloodshed made 
— it filled me with unspeakable horror. 

Off on Foot for Ujiji. 

The foregoing description by Livingstone of this bloody conflict will 
eanable the reader to understand his eager desire to get away and pursue 
his journey. 

Collecting his own little retinue, he started on foot for Ujiji three days 
later, the Arabs trying to prove their penitence by pressing their goods 
upon him, begging him not to hesitate to tell them of anything he wanted. 
A little gunpowder was all he would accept. Again attacked by fever, and 
"almost every step in pain," he pressed on, past miles of burning villages, 
until he came to a party of Manyuema who refused to come near, threw 
stones at him and his men, and "tried to kill those who went for water." 

On the 8th of August, after a bad night, an attack being every moment 
expected, our hero attempted to come to a parley with his enemies, feel- 
ing sure that he could soon convince them of his friendly intentions, but 
they would not listen to his envoys, and in passing along a narrow path, 
"with a wall of dense vegetation touching each hand," he came to a spot 
where trees had been cut down to obstruct his party whilst they were 
-speared. Clambering over the barrier, though expecting instant death, 
Livingstone was surprised at meeting with no opposition, but as he crept 
slowly along, preceded by his men, who really seemed to have behaved 

18 



274 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

very well, and peered into the dense foliage on either side, a dark 
shadow, that of an infuriated savage, here and there intervened between; 
him and the sun. Every rustle in the leaves might now mean a spear,, 
any sound might be the signal for a massacre. Presently a large spear 
from the right almost grazed Livingstone's back, and stuck into the 
ground behind him. He looked round and saw two men from whom it 
came in an opening in the forest only ten yards off, but again his foes 
disappeared as if by magic. 

Within Twelve Indies of Deatli. 

All were now allowed to go on for a few minutes unmolested, but soon 
another spear was thrown at Livingstone by an unseen assailant, missing- 
him again by about a foot. A red jacket he wore, he tells us, led our 
hero to be taken for Mohammed Mogharib, one of the slave-dealers, and 
it soon became evident that his men were to be allowed to escape whilst 
the attack was concentrated upon him. Ordering his attendants to fire 
their guns into the bush — the first time, be it observed, that he had ever 
in the course of his long wanderings used weapons in his own defence — 
our hero still went calmly on, congratulating himself that no yells or 
screams of agony succeeded his volley, till he came to a part of the forest 
cleared for cultivation. 

Here he noticed a gigantic tree, made still taller by growing on an 
ant-hill twenty feet high, to which fire had been applied near the roots. 
As he came up to it, he heard a crack which told that the destructive ele- 
ment had done its work, but he felt no fear till he saw the huge bulk falling 
forwards towards himself He started back, and only just escaped beings 
crushed. "Three times in one day," he remnrks, "was I delivered from 
impending death." His attendants, gathering round him, and taking 
this third preservation as a good omen, shouted, " Peace ! peace! you will 
finish your work in spite of these people, and in spite of everything." 

Five hours more of "running the gauntlet" ensued, and then the little 
band emerged unscathed on the cleared lands of a group of villages, to 
be met by a friendly chief named Muanampanda, who invited them to be 
his guests. On learning the meaning of all the firing he had heard, 
Muanampanda offered to call his people together and punish those who 
had molested the explorer, but, true to his generous character, Living- 
stone declared he wished no revenge for an attack made in error, and 
with some little difficnlty the chief consented to humor what must have 
seemed to him a strange whim. 

At Muanampanda's, Livingstone had unmistakable proof of the prac- 
tice of cannibalism amongst the Manyuema, who eat their foes killed irt 



TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND NARROW ESCAPES. 276 

battle, not from any lack of other animal food, but with a view to inspir- 
ing themselves with courage. They are said to bury a body which is to 
be eaten for two days in a forest, and then to disinter and cook it. We 
are glad to be able to add that they seem rather ashamed of this horrible 
practice, and do not like strangers to look at their human meat. 

From Muanampanda's Livingstone went on eastwards by very slow 
stages, for he was overtaken by a serious return of his old illness, and the 
entries in his journal, as on his last trip to Tanganyika, are very short 
and unsatisfactory. On the 23d September he writes, " I was sorely 
knocked up by this march from Nyangwe back to Ujiji. In the latter 
part of it I felt as if dying on my feet. Almost every step was in pain 
— the appetite failed, whilst the mind, sorely depressed, reacted on the 
body. All the traders were returning successful. I alone had failed, 
and experienced worry, thwarting, baffling, when almost in sight of the 
end towards which I strained." 

Another Misfortune. 

Another week and he chronicles his third arrival on the shores of 
Tanganyika, close to the entry into the lake of the river Logumba, 
which rises in the Kalogo mountains on the west. ** Perhaps," hazards 
Livingstone, "this river is the outlet of Tanganyika." "Great noises 
as of thunder were heard as far as twelve days off, which were ascribed 
to Kalogo, as if it had subterranean caves into which the water rushed 
with great noise ; the country slopes that way," he adds, " but I was too 
ill to examine its source " (that of the Logumba). 

On the 9th October the worn-out, almost dying, explorer arrived on 
the islet of Kasenge, landed on the eastern shores of the lake, and on the 
23d entered Ujiji, reduced, to use his own words, "to a skeleton." 
Warmly welcomed by the Arabs, who had believed him to be dead, and 
finding the market full of all kinds of native provisions, he hoped 
that proper food and rest would soon restore him, but in the evening his 
people came to tell him that the goods he left under the care of a man 
named Shereef had been sold at a nominal price, the Arabs adding that 
they protested, but the " idiot" would not listen to them. 

" This was distressing," exclaims poor Livingstone, thus again cut off 
from hope of fresh explorations. " I had made up my mind, if I could 
not get people at Ujiji, to wait till men should come from the coast, but 
to wait in beggary was what I never contemplated." The man Shereef 
actually came without shame to shake hands with his old master, and on 
Livingstone's refusing him that courtesy he assumed an air of displeas- 
ure, as if badly treated, observing on leaving, " I am going to pray." 



276 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

In his destitution Livingstone felt, he tells us, as if " he were the man 
who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves," but 
for him there was no hope of priest, Levite, or good Samaritan. Never, 
however, was the oft-quoted proverb, " when things are at the worst 
they will mend," more thoroughly verified than in this instance. First 
came a generous offer of aid in the form of a stock of valuable ivory 
from an Arab named Syed bin Magid, and then the news brought by 
Susi of the approach of an " Englishman," who proved to be more of an 
American than was supposed. 

The fact that Stanley reached Ujiji without the knowledge of Living- 
stone and those composing his expedition, shows how difficult it is in 
Africa to obtain news of what is transpiring even a short distance away. 
In our own country it could be known for hundreds of miles away from 
a party of travellers that they were on the march ; starting on one side 
of the continent, the other side could be made aware of the fact imme- 
diately. From time to time reports could be furnished, and enterprising 
newspapers could present cuts showing the various experiences through 
which the travellers were passing. But Africa is not America. For a 
long time Stanley and his men journeyed from Zanzibar towards the 
lake on the shores of which, now historic, Livingstone was secluded. 
No news went ahead, no messengers told the story, no telegraph flashed 
hope to the despairing explorer, and suddenly, unexpectedly, yet with joy 
like that of the morning, the great American hero stood face to face with 
the one whom he was seeking. 

This is the statement of* the fact. In the subsequent chapter we shall 
trace Mr. Stanley's journey, and shall see what befell him on the way. 
We shall also learn a little later the wonderful effect produced upon Liv- 
ingstone by this timely arrival. It is safe to say that if help had not 
come as opportunely as it did, the explorer would have died there upon 
the banks of the lake which he had struggled so long and heroically to 
reach. He was a broken-down, worn-out man, and needed the strong 
support, sympathy and timely help of just such a young, bold, heroic 
soul as Stanley was. 



CHAPTER XII. 
STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 

Livingstone Traced to Ujiji — Search Expedition Organized in England — Alarm and 
Sorrow at the News of Livingstone's Death — News Discredited by Sir Roderick 
Murchison — Mr. Young Sent Out to Find the Lost Explorer — The Little Steel 
Vessel — The Expedition Hears of a White Man— Traces of Livingstone — Natives 
Know Livingstone by His Photograph — Cheering News — Another Search Expe- 
dition — Money Eagerly Subscribed — Men Selected for the Undertaking — Stanley 
Leads the Way — Stanley on the March — Guides, Carriers and Donkeys — Band 
Music and Lively Songs — Natives Carrying Heavy Burdens on their Heads — 
Perils and Difficulties of the Journey — Qualities Required in an Explorer — 
Tangled Brake and Wild Animals — The Ferocious Rhinoceros — Excitements of 
the Chase — A Monster Fleet as a Gazelle — Conflict Between an Elephant and 
Rhinoceros — Mr. Oswald s Narrow Escape^The Hunter Scarred for Life — 
Stanley's Misfortunes — Sentence of Flogging on a Deserter — The Donkey- Whip — 
Daughter of an Infamous King — Urging Forward the Caravan — Sending Away a 
Sick Man — Stanley Frightens an Arab Sheik — Across Marshes and Rivers — Half 
Buried in a Swamp — Stanley's Graphic Account— Pursuit of a Runaway — The 
Fugitive Captured — Two Dozen Lashes and Put in Irons — The Captor Re- 
warded — Coral Beads for a Native's Wife. 

'E have already seen that in the year 1866 Dr. Livingstone had 
remained for a time with a certain Babisa chief, until the native 
was restored to health. Musa, and the doctor's other followers, 
deserted him and then made for the coast, where they at once spread the 
report that Livingstone had been murdered by the sanguinary tribe of 
Mazitu. 

We know that this tale was false, for we have already tracked the 
doctor to Ujiji, but the authorities at Zanzibar, in 1866, had no such evi- 
dence. Musa declared supposed facts in a very circumstantial manner, 
and Dr. Seward, political resident, forwarded the information to Lord 
Stanley, and the rumors thus circumstantially circulated gave rise to the 
activity which resulted in the Search Expeditions despatched from Eng- 
land; which, however, were rendered abortive by the enterprise of the 
New York Herald and its correspondent, Henry M. Stanley. 

The news of Livingstone's murder was received in England with alarm 
and sorrow. The story had so many elements of apparent truth in its 
composition, that friends and relatives, as well as the less-informed British 
public, feared the worst. 

But some people, and notably Sir R. Murchison, discredited the news. 

(277) 




278 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

It was, however, suggested that an expedition should be forthwith 
despatched to find the explorer, but this suggestion was combated as 
one which, if carried out, would prove useless and disastrous. 

However, after some months had elapsed, Sir Roderick Murchison 
and his adherents gained their point. A former companion of Dr. 
Livingstone, Mr. Edward D. Young, was appointed leader, as already- 
stated. From the Cape the little expedition was carried, in June, 1867, 
to the mouth of the Zambesi in one of Her Majesty's ships, and a small 
steel vessel, named the "Search," was successfully launched upon the 
waters of the rapid river. 

After some adventures, and a visit to a Portuguese settlement, whose 
chief gave the members confirmation of Livingstone's death — which, how- 
ever. Young did not credit — the "Search" continued, and entered the 
Shire River, where they were attacked by the natives, but being at length 
recognized as English, were hospitably received. 

As the little party continued their route, the inhabitants recognized 
the English as old friends. The chief of Mankokwi and others welcomed 
the Search Expedition, and though continual delays were thereby neces- 
sitated, the value of the friendliness was so great that the time lost was 
not considered as also wasted. 

The Expedition Hears of a *' White Man." 

After a while more progress was made, and the cataracts were passed. 
Lake Nyassa was at hand, and information which came in from time to 
time assured Mr. Young ahd his companions that they were on the right 
trail. No hostile tribe opposed their progress, and the " Search " con- 
tinued her venturesome way unmolested. 

At length, in the beginning of September, the lake was gained, and it 
became now a difficult matter to decide in what direction the course 
should be steered. A " white man" had been reported as having already 
gone in a north-westerly direction, but that was long ago, and Mr, 
Young and his men were somewhat undecided. 

The appearance of a native, however, gave them hopes; and when the 
man confessed a liking for the English because a white man had lately 
passed by, and made his village presents, Mr. Young was assured of 
success. Questions were put to the man concerning the appearance and 
departure of the good Englishman, and enough was extracted to assure 
Mr. Young that, so far, he had been proceeding in the right direction, 
and that Livingstone had certainly not been murdered as reported. 

Proceeding further up the lake, the good news was confirmed. The 
illustrious traveller had remained in a small village by the water during 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 279 

the past winter season, and had left an excellent impression upon the na~ 
tives. They gladly welcomed Young's party, and told the leader in what 
direction the Englishman had gone. They described him very fairly, 
and even indicated the peak of the doctor's cap, while other porticMis of 
his equipment were also faithfully and graphically recalled by the native 
chief 

Doubt could no longer exist in the minds of the members of the 
" Search " party that they had found " warm " traces of the great ex- 
plorer. Further enquiries resulted in accurate information respecting his 
observation of the sun with the sextant — which were illustrated by means 
of sticks — ^by a detail of the number of men, " two or three tens " of 
persons, his feet clothed in " skins " (boots) — and his little dog was men- 
tioned. 

TlijB Explorer Known by His Pliotog-rapli. 

Mr, Young at once continued his course, crossing the lake to Chivola, 
where more relics and reminiscenses of the doctor were discovered and 
related. The villagers gave many faithful and interesting details of the 
"' white man's " residence with them, and held his memory in great rev- 
-erence. 

While Mr. Young remained at Chivola he tested the accuracy of the 
chief's memory by mixing a photograph of Livingstone, in European 
■dress, with the pictures of other individuals. The chief at once identi- 
fied the doctor, but said his dress was not the same, as of course it was 
"not. This test was regarded, and with reason, as crucial and successful. 
Moreover, a prayer-book, a razor, and other relics were gradually pro- 
duced by natives with whom he had exchanged them. 

So armed with proof. Young proceeded — found other evidence in one 
of the doctor's young attendants, who had been ill and left behind. But 
the cold season had passed long ago — no news had been heard of the 
great traveller since he had gone south-west. Still Young persisted, and 
finally he gained information which entirely upset Musa's ingenious 
fabrication, although the doctor was not found. 

A native, who was encountered by the lake, gave the valuable intelli- 
gence that he had himself seen and assisted the doctor, the great 
"" M'Sungu," after the desertion of Musa and his faithless companions, of 
whom the native knew nothing. The man scorned the idea of Living- 
stone having been murdered by the Mazitu tribe, for the " M'Sungu " had 
avoided them completely. Musa's tale of death and burial was fully 
investigated and proved false when the search party penetrated to the 
Babisa country, and interviewed the old chief. 



280 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

This man was the identical individual whom Livingstone had cured^ 
and who was, therefore, extremely well-disposed to the new comers. His 
tribe were famous traders and travellers, who knew the country well and 
widely. From the Chief of Marengas Mr. Young obtained the best 
news they had yet received. 

The chief informed them that he knew Livingstone quite well, as was 
natural he should, seeing the doctor had tended him for so many weeks. 
He said that the white man had gone away across the marshes. After 
that, Musa and the Johanna men had returned, having deserted Living- 
stone, and were on their way to the coast. 

This information, so far, tallied with news already to hand ; but the 
chief declared that he had never heard of the death of Livingstone, and 
the native was assured that had it occurred he must have heard of it^ 
considering the wandering habits of his men, and their taste for travel- 
ling and trading. The chief thought it most improbable that the doctor 
had been killed at all in the country, and that he had not perished as 
Musa had declared was already evident. Under these circumstances^ 
Mr. Young and his men came to the conclusion that Livingstone was 
alive, though unfortunately out of reach ; that he had wandered through 
territories since infested by a hostile tribe, who had destroyed the 
villages. 

The Babisa chief warmly dissuaded Young from attempting to follow 
the doctor under such circumstances, and accordingly the " Search " ex- 
pedition returned to the cgast, and to England, with the news that Liv- 
ingstone had not been murdered, as stated by Musa, but that he had 
wandered away out of reach. 

Anotlier Search Fxpedition. 

Although the information brought home by Young satisfied for a time 
the anxiety of the English people, nothing definite had actually been 
heard of the doctor since May, 1869. In 1870, in his address to the 
Royal Geographical Society, Sir R. Murchison gave hopes of the doc- 
tor's existence, Livingstone had been reported at Ujiji, on Lake Tan- 
ganyika, where he was waiting supplies. Sir Samuel Baker hoped to 
find him, but this hope had no actual result, owing to geographical 
difficulties. 

Sir Bartle Frere proclaimed a relief expedition. Money was eagerly 
subscribed throughout the United Kingdom, and the Geographical 
Society took the matter in hand for the nation. Lieutenants Dawson and 
Henn were selected as the leaders, from a candidates' list of four hundred 
volunteers. Mr. Oswald Livingstone went with them, but a powerful 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 



281 



rival had already been despatched, and his mission was almost unknowm 
at first. This great rival was Henry M. Stanley, who had a tour 
arranged for him in India, with instructions to swoop down on Zanzibar 
and " find Livingstone." 

Stanley carried out his instructions, and arrived in January, 1871, at 
Zanzibar, which he found to be a much more beautiful and fertile island 
than he had supposed. He soon introduced himself to Dr. Kirk, and, 
without delay, set about making the necessary preparations for his jour- 
ney. The great difficulty was to obtain information as to the amount of 




mmmm 



EM^mM^^mm 



STANLEY ON THE MARCH. 

food, or rather the articles for purchasing it, which would be required for 
the hundred men he proposed enlisting in his service. 

He had engaged at Jerusalem a Christian Arab boy named Selim, who 
was to act as his interpreter, and he had also on the voyage attached to 
the expedition two mates of merchantmen, Farquhar and Shaw, who 
were very useful in constructing tents and arranging two boats and the 
pack-saddles and packages for the journey, but who proved in other re- 
spects very poor travellers. He also secured the services of that now 
well-known hero, Bombay, captain of Speke's faithfuls, and five of his 
other followers, Uledi, Grant's valet, and the blue-headed Mabruki, whO' 
had in the meantime lost one of his hands, but, notwithstanding, was. 



282 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

likely to prove useful. They were the only remains of the band to be 
found, the rest having died or gone elsewhere. These six still retained 
their medals for assisting in the discovery of the source of the Nile. 
Stanley Getting Ready to Start. 

The boats, one of which was capable of carrying twenty people and 
the other six, were stripped of their planks, the timbers and thwarts only 
being carried. Instead of the planking it was proposed to cover them 
with double canvas skin, well tarred. They and the rest of the baggage 
"were carried in loads, none exceeding sixty-eight pounds in weight. 
Two horses and twenty-seven donkeys were purchased, and a small cart, 
while the traveller had brought with him a watch-dog, which he hoped 
would guard his tent from prowling thieves. An ample supply of beads, 
cloth, and wire was also laid in, with tea, sugar, rice, and medicine. To 
Bombay and his faithfuls were added eighteen more free men, who were 
all well armed, and when mustered appeared an exceedingly fine-looking 
body of soldiers. These were to act as escort to \hcpagazis, or carriers. 

On the 4th of February, 1871, the expedition was ready, and on the 
5th embarked in four dhows, which conveyed it across to Bagamoyo on 
the mainland. Here it was detained five weeks while its persevering 
leader was combating the rogueries of Ali Ben Salim and another Arab, 
Hadji Palloo, who had undertaken to secure one hundred and forty 
carriers. The packages were rearranged, the tents improved, and other 
necessary arrangements made. 

He found here a caravaii which had been despatched by the British 
Consul a hundred days before to the relief of Dr. Livingstone; but 
which, its leader making as an excuse that he was unable to obtain a 
fresh nurnber of carriers, had hitherto remained inactive. 
Band Music and Lively Songs. 

The climate of Bagamoyo is far superior to that of Zanzibar. In its 
neighborhood a French Jesuit mission has been for some time estab- 
lished, with ten priests and as many sisters, who have been very success- 
ful in educating two hundred boys and girls. The priests sumptuously 
entertained Mr. Stanley with excellent champagne and claret, while 
some of their pupils, among whom they had formed a brass band, 
amused them with instrumental music and French songs. 

He divided his expedition into five caravans, the first of which he 
started off on the 18th of February, although it was not till March 21st 
that he with the largest was able to commence his journey westward. 
Altogether the expedition numbered on the day of departure, besides 
the commander and his two white attendants, twenty-three soldiers, four 




(283) 



284 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

chiefs, one hundred and fifty-three carriers, and four supernumeraries. 
Every possible care had been bestowed on the outfit, and in nothing that 
it needed was it stinted. Bombay proved to be honest and trustworthy, 
while Ferajji and Mabruki turned out true men and staunch, the latter, on 
one occasion, finding a difficulty in dragging the cart, having brought it 
along on his head rather than abandon it. The facility with which the 
natives carry heavy loads on their heads is described by Stanley, On 
one occasion he was waiting for Shaw, who was leading a caravan 
with supplies. Food being scarce in the camp, and Shaw not arriving,, 
he sent a message to him, requiring him to come on with all the speed 
he could ; but time passed, and the caravan arrived not. Stanley then 
set out to meet it, and thus describes Shaw's order of march : — " Stout^ 
burley Chowereh carried the cart on his head, having found thatcarrying 
it was easier than drawing it. The sight was such a damper to my 
regard for it as an experirnent, that the cart was wheeled into the 
reeds and there left. The central figure was Shaw himself, riding at a 
gait which rendered it doubtful whether he or his animal felt most sleepy. 
Upon expostulating with him for keeping the caravan so long waiting" 
when there was a march on hand, he said he had done the best he could^ 
but as I had seen the solemn pace at which he rode, I felt dubious about 
his best endeavors, and requested him, if he could not mend his pace, ta 
dismount and permit the donkey to be loaded for the march." 
Perils and Difficulties. 

Thus delays, obstacles and risks are sure to meet one who undertakes 
a land journey in intertropical Africa. There is no longer, as in the 
desert, the peril of death from thirst or starvation ; for the country 
abounds in game, and the course does not throughout lie through inter- 
minable swamp, as in the river navigation. But from the very beginning 
the explorer is beset with hindrances and annoyances small and great. 
An army of porters must be got together, drilled and fed. Like other 
Africans, they are children of impulse, credulous, suspicious, often lying,, 
cowardly and treacherous. On the slightest provocation they are seized 
with panic, and desert ; or they take advantage of relaxed discipline. 

The leader must be possessed of inexhaustible good-humor, and at the 
same time be able to prove, when occasion requires, that he is a stern 
master, A dove-like demeanor will hardly suit the African explorer ; he 
must be wise as a serpent and watchful as a hawk. When at length a 
start is made, difficulties accumulate at every step. In a country where 
rain falls for ten or eleven months in the year, under a vertical sun, the 
growth of vegetation is amazing. 




(285) 



286 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

In the dry season the grass and shrubs are burned far and wide ; but 
after a few weeks' rain the new plant-life starts up with incredible quick- 
ness. The country is covered with an impenetrable jungle of grass, 
reeds, and bamboos. A thick undergrowth starts up below the shade of 
the forest trees; the great stems of the pandanus, the banana, and the 
baobab are covered to their tops with a feathery growth of parasitic ferns 
and orchids, and festooned with the tough branches of the wild vine and 
the liana, and other twining and creeping plants. 

The rivers are at their highest mark, and the marshes are profound 
and impassable. The native villages are almost smothered under the 
dark luxuriance of plant-life, and lions and other beasts of prey can creep 
up unseen to the very doors of the huts. The whole country, in short, 
becomes a tangled brake, with only here and there an open space, or a 
rough track marking where the heavy body of an elephant, a rhinoceros, 
or a buffalo has crushed a way through the high grass. The fact that 
there is " a lion in the way " — much more an elephant — is an incentive 
to the traveller to push on. 

A Dangerous Beast. 

The rhinoceros especially is a monster that no traveller would wish to- 
meet, and renders exploration in some parts of Africa perilous in the 
extreme. Graphic accounts of the deadly exploits of this ferocious 
brute are given by all who have penetrated far into the wilds of the Dark 
Continent. 

The largest of the rhinoceros family is he of Africa, the square-nosed 
white rhinoceros. A full-grown brute of his species will measure 
eighteen feet in length (Mr. Galton shot one eighteen feet six inches) ; 
the circumference of its broad back and low-hanging belly almost as 
much; while it is so low on its legs that a tall man a-tiptoe could see across 
its back. Attached to its blunt nose — not to the bone, but merely set in 
the skin — is a horn more or less curved, hard as steel, sharp, and more 
than a yard long; and immediately behind this is a little horn, equally 
sharp, and shaped like a handleless extinguisher. Its eyes are marvel- 
ously little — so little, indeed, that at a short distance they are scarcely to 
be seen; at the same time, however, it should be borne in mind that the 
rhinoceros is of nocturnal habits; and, as it is with all such animals, by 
daylight the eyes are seldom seen to full advantage. 

Its ears are long, pointed, and tipped with a few bristles ; these and a 
scrubby tassel at the extremity of its tail comprise the whole of its hirsute 
appendages. His sense of hearing and smell are wonderfully acute. 
Andersson says, " I have had frequent opportunities of testing both these 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 287 

qualities. Even when feeding, lying down, or obeying any passing 
demand of nature, he will listen with a deep and continued attention, 
until the noise that has attracted his attention ceases. He ' winds ' an 
enemy from a very great distance; but if one be to leeward of him it is 
not difficult to approach within a few paces." 

A Monster Fleet as a Gazelle. 

Hunters universally agree as to the wonderful swiftness of this ponder- 
ous brute. Says Gordon Gumming, "A horse and rider can rarely 
manage to overtake it ;" and Gaptain Harris echoes, "From its clumsy 
appearance one would never suppose it capable of such lightning-like 
movements." " He is not often pursued on horseback," says Andersson, 
who, without doubt, knows more of the animal than any other European^ 
"and chiefly because his speed and endurance are such that it is very" 
difficult to come up with and follow him, to say nothing of the danger 
attendant on such a course. Many a hunter, indeed, has thereby en- 
dangered his life." 

Should the lion and rhinoceros meet, the former allows the latter a 
wide berth, and the huge elephant yields to him the path rather than 
risk a battle. Occasionally, however, the peaceful giant of the forest will, 
lose all patience with his quarrelsome neighbor, and screw up his cour- 
age " to have it out " with him. But the extra strength of the elephant 
does not sufficiently compensate for his cumbrous gait, and the swift and 
sudden movement of keitloa gives him an immense advantage. A cele- 
brated African sportsman once witnessed such a battle at Omanbonde^ 
but in this instance the impetuous rage of the rhinoceros proved his 
downfall ; for, having driven his terrible horn up to the hilt into the car- 
cass of the elephant, he was unable to extricate it, and the latter, falling^ 
dead of his wound, crushed out the life of his assailant in his descent. 
Mr. Andersson once witnessed a fight between a gigantic bull elephant 
and a black rhinoceros, and in the end the former turned tail and ran for 
his life. 

That he will not allow his passion for war to be hampered by the ties 
of blood and kindred, is proved by the same gentleman. " One night, 
"while at the skarm " (a circular wall, built of rough stone, loosely piled 
on each other), "I saw four of these huge beasts engage each other at 
the same time ; and so furious was the strife, and their gruntings so hor- 
rible, that it caused the greatest consternation among my party, who 
were encamped a little way off. I succeeded after awhile in killing two- 
of them, one of which was actually unfit for food, from wounds received 
on previous occasions, and probably under similar circumstances." 



:288 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The rhinoceros's best friend, and the rhinoceros hunter's most tiresome 
^nemy, is a little bird, vulgarly known as the rhinoceros bird. It con- 
stantly attends on the huge beast, feeding on the ticks that infest its hide, 
the bird's long claws and elastic tail enabling it to hold fast to whatever 
portion of the animal it fancies. If it rendered the rhinoceros no further 
service than ridding him of these biting pests, it would deserve his grati- 
tude ; but, in addition, it does him the favor of warning him of the ap- 
proach of the hunter. With its ears as busy as its beak, the little senti- 
nel detects danger afar off, and at once shoots up into the air, uttering a 
sharp and peculiar note, which the rhinoceros is not slow to understand 
-and take advantage of; he doesn't wait to make inquiry, but makes off 
at once. Gumming asserts that when the rhinoceros is asleep, and the 
bird fails to wake him with its voice, it will peck the inside of his ears, 
and otherwise exert itself to rouse its thick-headed friend. 

As a rule, the rhinoceros will shun man's presence, and do its best to 
escape as soon as the hnnter approaches. Like all other rules, however, 
this one is not without exception. In proof of this, Mr. Osw^ell relates an 
adventure in which he was the hunted as well the hunter, barely escaping 
with his life. One day, while returning to camp on foot, he saw, at a 
short distance off, two rhinoceroses of the terrible keitloa species ap- 
proaching him as they grazed. He says : " I immediately crouched, and 
quietly awaited their arrival ; but though they soon came within range, 
from their constantly facing me I was unable to fire, well knowing the 
laselessness of a shot at the head. In a short time they had approached, 
but on account of the exposed nature of the ground I could neither 
retreat nor advance, and my situation became highly critical. 

Scarred for Life. 

" I was afraid to fire, for even had I succeeded in killing one, the other 
would in all likelihood have run over and trampled me to death. In this 
dilemma it suddenly occurred to me that on account of their bad sight -I 
might possibly save myself by endeavoring to run past them. No time 
was to be lost, and accordingly, just as the leading animal almost touched 
me, I stood up and dashed past it. The brute, however, was too quick 
for me, and before I had made many good paces I heard a violent snort- " 
ing at my heels, and had only time to fire my gun at random at his head 
when I felt myself impaled on his horn. 

" The shock stunned me completely. The first return to consciousness 
was, I recollect, finding myself seated on one of my ponies, and a Caffre 
leading it. I had an indistinct notion of having been hunting, and on 
observing the man I asked quickly why he was not following the track 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 289 

of the animal, when he mumbled something to the effect that it was 
gone. By accident I touched my right hip with my hand, and on with- 
drawing it was astounded to find it clotted with blood ; yet my senses 
were still so confused, and the side so benumbed, that I actually kept 
feeling and pressing the wound with my fingers. While trying to 
account for my strange position, I observed some of my men coming 
toward me with a cart, and on asking them what they were about, they 
cried out that they had come to fetch my body, having been told that I 
had been killed by some animal. The truth now for the first time broke 
upon me, and I was quickly made aware of my crippled condition. The 
wound I had received was of a very serious character, and although it 
ultimately healed, it left scars behind which will no doubt remain till the 
day of my death." 

This was not the only opportunity Mr. Oswell had of testing the un- 
flinching courage occasionally exhibited by the rhinoceros. Once as, 
mounted on a first-rate horse, he was returning from an elephant hunt, 
he saw in the distance a magnificent white rhinoceros, bearing a horn of 
unusual size. Without a thought as to the danger of the proceeding, he 
.spurred his steed, and was speedily neck and neck with his game. 
Instantly the deadly gun was leveled, and a bullet lodged in the thick- 
skinned carcase. Not fatally, however ; and, worse than all, instead of 
"bolting," as is the animal's wont when wounded, it just stood stock-still 
for a moment, eyeing the hunter with its vengeful little eyes, and then 
"deliberately stalking toward him, made a sudden rush at the refractory 
steed, and thrust its horn completely through its body, so that the point 
of the tremendous weapon struck the rider's leg through the saddle-flap 
at the other side. The horse was of course killed on the spot, but 
the rider was so little injured that he immediately followed and slew the 
rhinoceros. 

A Powerful Foe. 

Innumerable instances of dangerous encounters with wild animals 
might be mentioned, to show the perils that constantly beset the path of 
Stanley. Kingston relates an adventure of this description. 

" Once more," he says, " the trumpeting burst forth, the sounds echo- 
ing through the forest. A minute afterwards I heard the crashing of 
boughs and brushwood some way off. I guessed, as I listened, that the 
animal was coming towards where I lay. The sounds increased in loud- 
ness. Should it discover me it would probably revenge itself by crushing 
me to death, or tossing me in the air with its trunk. I had my rifle ready 
to fire. There was a chance that I might kill it or make it turn aside. 

19 



290 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The ground where I lay sloped gradually downwards to a more opert 
spot. I expected the next instant that the elephant would appear. It did 
so, but further off than I thought it would, and I thus began to hope that 
I should escape its notice. It was moving slowly, though trumpeting 
with pain and rage. 

" The instant I caught sight of it another huge creature rushed out of 
the thicket on the opposite side of the glade. It was a huge bull 
rhinoceros with a couple of sharp-pointed horns, one behind the other. 

"The elephant on seeing it stopped still, as if wishing to avoid a con- 
test with so powerful an antagonist. I fully expected to witness a long 
and terrible fight, and feared that, in the struggle, the animals might 
move towards where I lay and crush me. That the elephant was wounded; 
I could see by the blood streaming down its neck. This probably made 
it less inclined to engage in a battle with the rhinoceros. Instead of 
advancing, it stood whisking its trunk about and trumpeting. The- 
rhinoceros, on the contrary, after regarding it for a moment, rushed fear- 
lessly forward and drove its sharp-pointed horns into its body while it in. 
vain attempted to defend itself with its trunk. 

"The two creatures were now locked together in a way which made it 
seem impossible for them to separate, unless the horns of the rhinoceros 
were broken off. Never did I witness a more furious fight. The ele- 
phant attempted to throw itself down on the head of its antagonist, and' 
thereby only drove the horns deeper into its own body. So interested 
was I, that I forgot the pain I was suffering, while I could hear no other 
sounds than those produced by the two huge combatants. While I was. 
watching them, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and saw one of our party 
standing over me. 

" ' I- am sorry you have met with this accident ! ' he exclaimed. ' The 
sooner you get away from this the better. There is a safer spot a little 
higher up the bank. We will carry you there.' 

" I willingly consenting, my friends did as they proposed, as from 
thence I could watch the fight with greater security. They, having 
placed me in safety, hurried towards the combatants, hoping to kill both 
of them before they separated. 

** The Huge Creature Fell Over." 

"The elephant, already wounded, appeared likely to succumb without 
our further interference. There was indeed little chance of its attempting 
to defend itself against them. One of the men sprang forward until he 
got close up to the animals, and firing he sent a bullet right through the 
elephant's heart. The huge creature fell over, pressing the rhinoceros^ 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 



291 



to the ground. As the great beast was now pinned fast and unable to 
escape, it was not difficult to dispatch him, and this was quickly done." 

We must return from these conflicts with African wild animals to 
follow the thrilling adventures of Mr. Stanley. 

The Kinganni river was reached by a bridge rapidly formed with 
American axes, the donkeys refusing to pass through the water. The 
country due west of Bagamoyo was found to be covered with towns and 
villages which were previously unknown. Soon after starting, Omar, 
the watch-dog, was missing, when Mabruki, hastening back, found him 
at the previous halting-place. One of the caravans at the same place was 




THE RHINOCEROS DROVE ITS HORNS INTO ITS BODY 



detained by the sickness of three of the carriers, whose place it was neces- 
sary to supply. 

Stanley soon had to experience the invariable troubles of African 
travellers. His two horses died within a few hours of each other, both, 
however, from disease of long standing, and not from the climate. Few 
men were better able to deal with the rogueries of the petty chiefs he 
met with than Mr. Stanley. He had always a ready answer, and invari- 
ably managed to catch them in their own traps, while the "great master," 
as he was called, managed to keep his subordinates in pretty good 
order. 



292 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

One of his carriers, Khamisi, under Shaw's command, having ab- 
sconded, Uledi and Ferajji found him, having fallen into the hands of 
some plundering Washensi, who were about to kill him. A court of 
eight soldiers and eight carriers having been convened, condemned him 
to be flogged with the "great master's " donkey-whip. As Shaw ought 
to have kept a better look out, he was ordered to give him one blow and 
the carriers and soldiers the remainder. This being done, the man was 
pardoned. 

Moving on, the expedition passed Simbamwenni, the fortifications of 
which are equal to any met with in Persia. The area of the town is 
about half a square mile, while four towers of stone guard each corner. 
There are four gates, one in each wall, which are closed with solid square 
doors of African teak, and carved with complicated devices. It is ruled 
by the daughter of the infamous Kisalungo, notorious as a robber and 
kidnapper, another Theodore on a small scale. Before long Stanley was 
attacked with fever, which greatly prostrated his strength, though he 
quickly recovered by taking strong doses of quinine. 

The most painful event which occurred was the flight of Bunda Selim, 
who had been punished for pilfering rations. The men sent after him 
were seized and imprisoned by the Sultana of Simbamwenni, and, though 
ultimately liberated by the interference of an Arab sheikh, nothing could 
be found of the missing cook. Shaw also fell ill, and left the task of urg- 
ing on the floundering caravan through marshes and rivers to his su- 
perior. ■ Several of the athers followed his example, and even Bombay 
complained of pains and became unserviceable. 

Misconduct of Attendants. 

The report from Farquhar's caravan was most unsatisfactory, he, as far 
as Stanley could make out, having lost all his donkeys. The unhappy 
man, indeed, he found on overtaking him, was suffering from dropsy. 
He had also given to the porters and soldiers no small amount of the 
contents of the bales committed to his charge, as payment for the services 
he had demanded of them, and in purchasing expensive luxuries. As he 
could not walk and was worse than useless, Stanley was obliged to send 
the sick man, under the charge of Mabruki, thirty miles away to the 
village of Mpwapwa, to the chief of which place he promised an ample 
reward if he would take care of him. 

Worse than all, the wretched Shaw, after a dispute, during the night 
fired into Stanley's tent, too evidently with the intention of killing him. 
He found the intended murderer pretending to be asleep, with a gun by 
his side yet warm. Unable to deny that he had fired, he declared that in 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 293 

his dreams he had seen a thief pass his door; and then asked what was 
the matter, "Oh, nothing," answered Stanley; "but I would advise you 
in future, in order to avoid all suspicion, not to fire into my tent, or at 
least, so near me. I might get hurt, in which case ugly reports would 
get about, and this, perhaps, would be disagreeable, as "you are probably 
aware. Goodnight!" 

On reaching Mpwapwa the chief Lencolo positively refused to take 
charge of the white man unless an interpreter was left with him, and 
Jako, who was the only one of the party besides Bombay and Selim who 
could speak English, was ordered to remain in that capacity. 

A Slieikli Badly Friglitened. 

The expedition was now about to enter Ugogo. During the passage 
of the intervening desert, five out of the nine donkeys died, the cart 
having some time before been left behind. 

The expedition was now joined by several Arab caravans, so that the 
number of the party amounted to about four hundred souls, strong in 
guns, flags, horns sounding, drums, and noise. This host was to be led 
by Stanley and sheikh Hamed through the dreaded Ugogo. 

In May they were at Mvumi, paying heavy tribute to the sultan. 
Nothing seemed to satisfy him. Stanley suggested that as he had twenty 
Wazunga armed Avith Winchester repeating rifles, he might make the 
sultan pay tribute to him. The sheikh entreated that he would act 
peaceably, urging that angry words might induce the sultan to demand 
double the tribute. 

We quote Stanley's own account of some of his experiences in this 
part of his journey: 

The Wanyamwezi donkeys stuck in the mire as if they were rooted to 
it. As fast as one was flogged from his stubborn position, prone to the 
depths fell another, giving me a Sisyphean labor, which was maddening 
under pelting rain, assisted by such men as Bombay and Uledi, who 
could not for a whole skin's sake stomach the storm and mire. Two 
hours of such a task enabled me to drag my caravan over a savannah 
one mile and a half broad ; and barely had I finished congratulating my- 
self over my success before I was halted by a deep ditch, which, filled 
with rain-water from the inundated savannahs, had become a consider- 
able stream, breast-deep, flowing swiftly into the Makata. Donkeys had 
to be unloaded, led through a torrent, and loaded again on the other 
bank — an operation which consumed a full hour. 

Presently, after straggling through a wood clump, barring our prog- 
ress was another stream, swollen into a river. The bridge being swept 



294 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

away, we were obliged to swim and float our baggage over, which de- 
layed us two hours more. Leaving this second river-bank, we splashed, 
waded, occasionally half-swimming, and reeled through mire, water- 
dripping grass and matama stalks, along the left bank of the Makata 
proper, until farther progress was effectually prevented for that day by a 
deep bend of the river, which we would be obliged to cross the next day. 

Though but six miles were traversed during that miserable day, the 
march occupied ten hours. 

Half dead with fatigne, I yet could feel thankful that it was not ac- 
companied by fever, which it seemed a miracle to avoid; for if ever a dis- 
trict was cursed with the ague, the Makata wilderness ranks foremost of 
those afflicted. Surely the sight of the dripping woods enveloped in 
opaque mist, of the inundated country with lengthy swathes of tiger- 
grass laid low by the turbid flood, of mounds of decaying trees and 
canes, of the swollen river and the weeping sky, was enough to engender 
the mukunguru ! The well-used khambi, and the heaps of filth sur- 
rounding it, were enough to create a cholera ! 

Crossing- a Swollen Stream. 

The Makata, a river whose breadth during the dry season is but forty 
feet, in the Makisa season assumes the breadth, depth, and force of an 
important river. Should it happen to be an unusually rainy season, it 
inundates the great plain which stretches on either side, and converts it 
into a great lake. 

So swift was the flow of the Makata, and so much did its unsteady 
bridge, half buried in the ^ater, imperil the safety of the property, that 
its transfer from bank to bank occupied fully five hours. No sooner had 
we landed every article on the other side, undamaged by the water, than 
the rain poured down in torrents that drenched them all, as if they had 
been dragged through the river. To proceed through the swamp which 
an hour's rain had formed was utterly out of the question. We were 
accordingly compelled to camp in a place where every hour furnished its 
quota of annoyance. 

One of the Wangwana soldiers engaged at Bagamoyo, named Kingaru, 
improved an opportunity to desert with another man's kit. My two 
detectives, Uledi (Grant's valet), and Sarmean, were immediately de- 
spatched in pursuit, both being armed with American breech-loaders. 
They went about their task with an adroitness and celerity which augured 
well for their success. In an hour they returned with the runaway, having 
found him hidden in the house of a chief called Kigondo, who lived 
about a mile from the eastern bank of the river, and who had accom- 



STANLEY HASTENING TO THE RESCUE. 



295 



panied Uledi and Sarmean to receive his reward, and render an account 
of the incident. 




Kigondo said, when he had been seated, " I saw this man carrying a 
bundle, and running hard, by which I knew that he was deserting you. 



29(5 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

We (my wife and I) were sitting in our little watch-hut, watching our 
corn ; and, as the road runs close by, this man was obliged to come close 
to us. We called to him when he was near, saying, * Master, where are 
you going so fast ? Are you deserting the Musungu, for we know you 
belong to him, since you bought from us yesterday two doti worth of 
meat ?' 

" ' Yes,' said he, * I am running away; I want to get to Simbamwenni. 
If you will take me there, I will give you a doti.' 

" We said to him then, * Come into our house, and we will talk it over 
quietly.' When he was in our house in an inner room, we locked him 
up, and went out again to the watch ; but leaving word with the women 
to look out for him. We knew that, if you wanted him, you would send= 
askari (soldiers) after him. 

" We had but lit our pipes when we saw two men armed with short 
guns, and having no loads, coming along the road, looking now and then 
on the ground, as if they were looking at footmarks. We knew them to 
be the men we were expecting ; so we hailed them, and said, ' Masters,, 
what are ye looking for ?* 

" They said, * We are looking for a man who has deserted our master. 
Here are his footsteps. If you have been long in your hut you must 
have seen him. Can you tell us where he is?' We said, ' Yes ; he is in 
our house. If you will come with us, we will give him up to you ; but 
your master must give us something for catching him.' " 

As Kigondo had promj^ed to deliver Kingaru up, there remained 
nothing further to do for Uledi and Sarmean but to take charge of their 
prisoner, and bring him and his captors to my camp on the western bank 
of the Makata. Kingaru received two dozen lashes, and was chained ;. 
his captor a doti, besides five khete of read coral beads for his wife. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 

Stanley's Marvellous Courage and Enterprise — Abundance of Supplies— Perils Sur- 
rounding the Expedition— Paying Tribute to Chiefs — Dense Jungles and Thickets 
of Thorns— A Country Teeming with Noble Game — A Merry Bugler and His 
Horn — Stanley Invited to the House of a Sheik-^ Three Caravans Arrive in 
Safety— Letters to Livingstone Long Delayed — Illness of Stanley — The Explorer 
Senseless for Two Weeks^Shaw Agam Breaks Down — Chief Mirambo Disputes 
the March of the Expedition- Stanley Joins the Arab Forces — Deadly Encounter 
with Mirambo — Stanley's Graphic Account of the Conflict — Mirambo Gets His 
Foe into Ambush — Disastrous Dtfeat of the Arab Forces— Stanley's Hasty 
Flight— Setting off Hurridly at Midnight — Urging Forward the Donkeys — Safe at 
Last — Arab Boy Faithful to His Anierican Master — News of Farquhar's Death — 
Burning a Village— Mirambo Retreats — Stanley's Little Slave Boy— How the 
Name Kalulu was Obtained — Shaw is Sent Back — Narrow Escape From a Croco 
dile— Capture of an Immense Reptile — A Traveler's Startling Adventure — 
Mutiny in Stanley's Camp— Securing the Friendship of a Powerful Chief— Home 
of the Lion and the Leopard— Stanley in Pursuit of Adventure— Encounter with 
a Wild African Boar— Kalulu Badly Frightened— Crosshig a Perilous River- 
Exciting News of a White Man^ — Stanley Longs for a Horse — Expedition in High 
Spirits — More Demand for Tribute — A Bivouac in Silence — Passing Through an 
African Village— Great Alarm Among the Natives— Arrival at Last — March of 
Two Hundred and Thirty six Days. 

O one can dpubt' that any man with less nerve and courage than 
Stanley would have turned back. Sitting in our quiet American 
homes, with all the evidences of civilization, peace and comfort 
around us, it is impossible to fully realize the situation of the 
great explorer on this expedition, which had for its object the recovery 
of an explorer equally famous with himself One thing was in Stanley's 
favor : all that money could afford was freely furnished and his supplies 
were ample at the outset. Of course these supplies of clothing and 
other things necessary for exchange with the African tribes grew less 
as he advanced, but at this point of his journey he was still amply 
furnished. 

Yet it must be remembered that Stanley was in a country which was 
very unhealthful, where there were many hostile tribes, where wars were 
constantly raging, where Arabs were in pursuit of their prey, and it was 
necessary for him to exercise all his ingenuity and show all his courage 
in overcoming difficulties and pushing forward in his great undertaking. 

(297) 



298 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

He was constantly compelled to pay tribute to the chiefs of the various 
-districts through which he passed, and if he had not sometimes reso- 
lutely refused what was demanded, his expedition would have been com- 
pletely plundered before he was half way to Ujiji. At the point where 
we left him in the last chapter we hear of the same old story of tribute 
demanded. This was granted to preserve peace, and shaking the dust 
of Mvumi off their feet, the party proceeded westward. The country 
was one vast field of grain, and thickly populated. Between that place 
and the next sultan's district twenty-five villages were counted. When- 
ever they halted large groups of people assembled and greeted with 
peals of laughter the dress and manner of the white man, and more than 
once had to be kept at a distance by Stanley's rifle or pistols, sometimes 
his thick whip coming into play. 

After this a dense jungle was entered, the path serpentining in and out 
■of it ; again open tracts of grass bleached white were passed : now it 
led through thickets of gums and thorns, producing an odor as rank as 
a stable ; now through clumps of wide-spreading mimosa and colonies of 
baobab-trees across a country teeming with noble game, which, though 
frequently seen, were yet as safe from their rifles as if they had been on the 
Indian Ocean. But the road they were on admitted of no delay ; water 
had been left behind at noon ; until noon the next day not a drop was to 
T^e obtained, and unless they marched fast and long, raging thirst would 
<iemoralize everybody. 

*' The pug^ler Blew His Horn." 

After this wearisome journey Stanley was again attacked by fever, 
which it required a whole day's halt and fifty grains of quinine to cure. 
As may be supposed, they were thankful when Ugogo was passed, and 
they entered Unyanyembe. As the caravan resumed its march after halt- 
ing at noon, the Wanyamuezi cheered, shouted, and sang, the soldiers 
and porters shouting in return, and the bugler blew his horn much more 
merrily than he had been wont to do in Ugogo. 

A large district, however, presented the sad spectacle of numerous 
villages burnt down, cattle carried off, and the grain-fields overrun with 
jungle and rank weeds — too common a sight in that part of the country. 
The expedition at length entered Kivihara, the capital of the province 
ruled over by the aged Sultan Mkaswa, who received Stanley in a friendly 
way. The Sheikh Said Ben Salim invited him to take up his quarters in 
his tembe, or house, a comfortable-looking place for the centre of Africa. 
Here his goods were stored, and his . carriers paid off. His three other 
•caravans had arrived safely. One had had a slight skirmish, a second 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 299 

having shot a thief, and the third having lost a bale when attacked by 
robbers. 

This is the place, to the southward of Victoria Nyanza, where Captains 
Burton, Speke, and Grant remained for a considerable time at different 
periods during their expeditions. Soon after, the Livingstone caravan 
arrived, and the goods were stored with those of Stanley, the men being 
quartered with his. The chief of the caravan brought Stanley a package 
of letters directed to Dr. Livingstone at Ujiji, when, to his surprise, he 
found that it was marked outside: "November ist, 1871." What a 
<;ruel delay was this ! 

The Explorer Senseless. 

After his long journey, Stanley was now laid completely prostrate, 
and for two weeks was perfectly senseless. The unhappy Shaw was also 
again taken ill. The fever rapidly destroyed both his memory and his 
reason. Selim, who had hitherto faithfully watched over his master and 
treated him according to the written directions he had received, was also 
prostrated, and in a state of delirium for four days. Late in July, how- 
ever, all had again recovered, and fifty carriers were ready to start with 
bales, beads, and wire for Ujiji. Three days after this, Shaw again broke 
down, asserting that he was dying, and he had to be carried on the 
backs of his men till brought into his leader's hut. 

The road, however, ahead was closed by the chief Mirambo, who 
declared that no Arab caravan should pass that way. The Arabs, there- 
fore, had resolved to attack him, and mustered an army of upwards of 
two thousand men. Stanley, with his followers, determined to join them, 
to assist in bringing the war to a speedy conclusion. The palace was 
soon surrounded, and, though the party was received with a volley, the 
fire of the defenders was soon silenced. They took to flight, and the 
village was entered. Notwithstanding the heavy fire which had been 
kept on it, twenty dead bodies only were found. Other villages were 
attacked and burned. 

A more serious affair occurred soon afterwards. When Stanley was 
again attacked with fever, a number of his men, notwithstanding his 
orders to the contrary, joined the Arabs in an attack on a more important 
place, commanded by Mirambo himself The result was that, though 
the place was taken, the Arabs fell into an ambush, laid by Mirambo, 
and were completely defeated, many of them, including some of Stanley's 
soldiers, being killed. Mirambo, following up his successes, pursued the 
Arabs, and Stanley had to mount his donkey, Shaw being lifted on his, 
and to fly at midnight for their lives. His soldiers ran as fast as their 



300 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

legs could carry them, the only one of his followers who remained at his 
master's side being young Selim. 

Stanley's Account of the Battle. 

Stanley's description of this sanguinary affair is as follows : A detach- 
ment of Arabs and slaves, seven hundred strong, scoured the surrounding 
country, and carried fire and devastation up to the boma of Wilyankuru. 

Soud bin Sayd and about twenty other young Arabs led a force of 
five hundred men against Wilyankuru itself, where it was supposed 
Mirambo was living. Another party went out towards the low wooded 
hills, a short distance north of Zimbizo, near which place they surprised 
a youthful forest thief asleep, whose head they stretched backwards, and 
cut it off as though he were a goat or a sheep. Another party sallied 
out southward, and defeated a party of Mirambo's "bush-whackers," 
news of which came to our ears at noon. 

In the morning I had gone to Sayd bin Salim's tembe, to represent to 
him how necessary it was to burn the long grass in the forest of Zimbizo, 
lest it might hide any of the enemy; but soon afterwards I had been- 
struck down with another attack of intermittent fever, and was obliged 
to turn in and cover myself with blankets to produce perspiration; but 
not, however, till I had ordered Shaw and Bombay not to permit any of 
my men to leave the camp. But I was told soon afterwards by Selim 
that more than one-half had gone to the attack on Wilyankuru with 
Soud bin Sayd. 

About 6 p. M. the entire camp of Zimbizo was electrified with the 
news that all the Arabs who had accompanied Soud bin Sayd had been^ 
killed ; and that more than one-half of his party had been slain. Some 
of my own men returned, and from them I learned that Uledi, Grant's 
former valet, Mabruki Khatalabu (Killer of his father), Mabruki (the Lit« 
tie), Baruti of Useguhha, and Ferahan had been killed. 

Gaug-ht in Ambush. 

I learned also that they had succeeded in capturing Wilyankuru in a; 
very short time, that Mirambo and his son were there, that as they suc- 
ceeded in effecting an entrance, Mirambo had collected his men, and 
after leaving the village, had formed an ambush in the grass, on each 
side of the road, between Wilyankuru and Zimbizo, and that as the at- 
tacking party were returning home laden with over a hundred tusks of 
ivory, and sixty bales of cloth, and two or three hundred slaves, Mir- 
ambo's men suddenly rose up on each side of them, and stabbed them- 
with their spears. 

The brave Soud had flred his double-barrelled, gun and shot two men,. 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 



301 



and was in the act of loading again when a spear was launched, which 
penetrated through and through him ; all the other Arabs shared the 
same fate. This sudden attack from an enemy they believed to be con- 




WEAPONS USED IN WARFARE. 

quered so demoralized the party that, dropping their spoil, each man 
took to his heels, and after making a wide detour through the woods, re- 
turned to Zimbizo to repeat the dolorous tale. 



302 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The effect of this defeat is indescribable. It was impossible to sleep, 
from the shrieks of the women whose husbands had fallen. All night 
they howled their lamentations, and sometimes might be heard the 
groans of the wounded who had contrived to crawl through the grass un- 
perceived by the enemy. Fugitives were continually coming in through- 
out the night, but none of my men who were reported to be dead, were 
ever heard of again. 

The next day was one of distrust, sorrow, and retreat ; the Arabs ac- 
cused one another for urging war without expending all peaceful means 
first. There were stormy councils of war held, wherein were some who 
proposed to return at once to Unyanyembe, and keep within their own 
houses ; and Khamis bin Abdullah raved, like an insulted monarch,, 
against the abject cowardice of his compatriots. These stormy meetings 
and propositions to retreat were soon known throughout the camp, and 
assisted more than anything else to demoralize completely the combined 
forces of Wanyamwezi and slaves. I sent Bombay to Sayd bin Salim to 
advise him not to think of retreat, as it would only be inviting Mirambo 
to carry the war to Unyanyembe. 

Hasty Flig-ht. 

After despatching Bombay with this message, I fell asleep, but about 
1.30 p. M. I was awakened by Selim saying " Master, get up, they are 
all running away, and Khamis bin Abdullah is himself going." 

With the aid of Selim I dressed myself, and staggered towards the 
door. My first view was f)f Thani bin Abdullah being dragged away, 
who, when he caught sight of me, shouted out " Bana — quick — Mirambo 
is coming." He was then turning to run, and putting on his jacket, with 
his eyes almost starting out of their sockets with terror. Khamis bin 
Abdullah was also about departing, he being the last Arab to leave. Two 
of my men were following him ; these Selim was ordered to force back 
with a revolver. 

Shaw was saddling his donkey with my own saddle, preparatory to 
giving me the slip, and leaving me in the lurch to the tender mercies of 
Mirambo. There were only Bombay, Mabruki Speke, Chanda who was 
coolly eating his dinner, Mabruk Unyanyembe, Mtamani, Juma, and Sar- 
mean — only seven out of fifty. All the others had deserted, and were 
by this time far away, except Uledi and Zaidi, whom Selim brought 
back at the point of a loaded revolver. Selim was then told to saddle 
my donkey, and Bombay to assist Shaw to saddle his own. In a few 
moments we were on the road, the men ever looking back for the com- 
ing enemy ; they belabored the donkeys to some purpose, for they went 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 303- 

at a hard trot, which caused me intense pain. I would gladly have lain 
down to die, but life was sweet, and I had not yet given up all hope of 
being able to preserve it to the full and final accomplishment of my mis- 
sion. My mind was actively at work planning and contriving during the 
long lonely hours of night, which we employed to reach Mfuto, whither 
I found the Arabs had retreated. 

Safe at Liast. 

In the night Shaw tumbled off his donkey, and would not rise, though 
implored to do so. As I did not despair myself, so I did not intend that 
Shaw should despair. He was lifted on his animal, and a man was placed 
on each side of him to assist him ; thus we rode through the darkness.. 
At midnight we reached Mfuto safely, and were at once admitted into the 
village, from which we had issued so valiantly, but to which we were now 
returned so ignominiously. 

I found all my men had arrived here before dark. Ulimengo, the bold 
guide who had exulted in his weapons and in our numbers, and was so 
sanguine of victory, had performed the eleven hours' march in six hours; 
sturdy Chowpereh, whom I regarded as the faithfullest of my people,, 
had arrived only half an hour later than Ulimengo ; and frisky Khamisi- 
the dandy — the orator — the rampant demagogue — yes — he had come 
third ; and Speke's " Faithfuls " had proved as cowardly as any poor 
" nigger " of them all. Only Selim was faithful. 

I asked Selim, " Why did you not also run away, and leave your 
master to die ?" " Oh, sir," said the Arab boy, naively, " I was afraid 
you would whip me." 

From the last-mentioned place, Mfuto, Stanley returned to Kivihara. 
Here he was detained a considerable time, during which he received au- 
thentic news of Livingstone from an Arab, who had met with him 
travelling into Manyuema,and who affirmed that, having gone to a market 
at Liemba in three canoes, one of them, in which all his cloth had been 
placed, was upset and lost. The news of Farquhar's death here reached 

him. 

The Chief Retreats. 

As he had expected, Mirambo advanced ; and one of the leading Arabs 
and his adopted son, who had gone out with their slaves to meet him, 
the slaves having deserted, were killed. 

The neighboring village of Tabora was burned, and Kivihara itself 
was threatened. Stanley made preparations for defence, and having col- 
lected a hundred and fifty armed men, bored loopholes for the muskets 
in the clay walls of the tembe, formed rifle-pits round it, tore down the 



304 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

huts, and removed everything which might afford shelter to the enemy, 
felt little fear for the consequences. Mirambo, however, seemed to have 
thought better of it, and marched away with his troops, satisfied with the 
plunder he had obtained. Month after month passed away, and he had 
great difficulty in obtaining soldiers to supply the places of those who 
liad been killed or died, which was the fate of several. 

He one day received a present of a little slaye boy from an Arab mer- 
chant, to whom, at Bombay's suggestion, the name of Kalulu, meaning a 
young antelope, was given. 

An Arab named Mohammed, says Stanley, presented me to-day with 
a little boy-slave, called "Ndugu M'hali" (my brother's wealth). As I 
did not like the name, I called the chiefs of my caravan together, and 
asked them to give him a better name. One suggested " Simba" (a lion), 
another said he thought "Ngombe" (a cow) would suit the boy-child, 
another thought he ought to be called " Mirambo," which raised a loud 
laugh. Bombay thought " Bombay Mdogo " would suit my black-skin- 
ned infant very well. Ulimengo, however, after looking at his quick eyes, 
and noticing his celerity of movement, pronounced the name Ka-lu-lu 
as the best for him, "because," said he, "just look at his eyes so bright! 
look at his form, so slim ! watch his movements, how quick ! Yes, 
Kalulu is his name." " Yes, bana," said the others, "let it be Kalulu." 

" Kalulu " is a term for the young of the blue-buck antelope. 

" Well, then," said I, water being brought in a huge tin pan, Selim, 
who was willing to stand godfather, holding him over the water, " let his 
name henceforth be Kalulu, and let no man take it from him," and thus it 
-was that the little black boy of Mohammed's came to be called Kalulu. 
Shaw Gives Out and is Sent Back. 

On the 9th of September Mirambo received a severe defeat, and had 
to take to flight, several of his chief men being slain. 

Shaw gave Stanley a great deal of trouble. Again he himself was 
attacked with fever, but his white companion in no degree sympathized 
with him, even little Kalulu showing more feeling. Weak as he was, he, 
however, recommenced his march to the westward, with about forty men 
added to his ol-d followers. 

Bombay, not for the first time, proving refractory and impudent, received 
a thrashing before starting, and when Stanley arrived at his camp at night, 
he found that upwards of twenty of the men had remained behind. He, 
therefore, sent a strong body back, under Selim, who returned with the 
men and some heavy slave-chains, and Stanley declared that if any be- 
haved in the same way again he would fasten them together and make 




20 



(305) 



300 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

them march like slaves, Shaw also showed an unwillingness to go for- 
ward, and kept tumbling from his donkey, either purposely or from weak- 
ness, till at last Stanley consented to allow him to return to Unyanyembe. 

On the 1st of October, while he and his party lay encamped under a 
gigantic sycamore-tree, he began to feel a contentment and comfort to 
which he had long been a stranger, and he was enabled to regard his sur- 
roundings with satisfaction. Though the sun's rays were hot, the next 
day's march was easily performed. On the roadside lay a dead man ; 
indeed, skeletons or skulls were seen eveiy day, one, and sometimes two, 
of men who had fallen down and died, deserted by their companions. 
Narrow Escape from a Crocodile. 

While encamped near the Gambe, its calm waters, on which lotus-leaves 
rested placidly, all around looking picturesque and peaceful, invited Stan- 
ley to take a bath. He discovered a shady spot under a wide-spreading 
mijnosa, where the ground sloped down to the still water, and having un- 
dressed, and was about to take a glorious dive, when his attention was 
attracted by an enormously long body which shot into view, occupying 
the spot beneath the suface which he was about to explore by a header. 
It jwas a crocodile ! He sprang back instinctively. This proved his sal- 
vation, for the monster turned away with a disappointed look, and he 
registered a vow never to be tempted again by the treacherous calm of an 
African river. 

The method of capturing this immense creature and getting it ashore 
is told by a tropical traveller, and will be read with interest. 

" One of our women went to the river to wash, but never returned. 
This was close to our diahbeeah ; and the water being shallow, there is. 
no doubt that she was seized by a crocodile. 

" I was one day returning from head-quarters to my station, a distance 
ofa rnile and a half along the river's bank, when I noticed the large head 
of a crocodile about thirty yards from the shore. I knew every inch of 
th|e river, and I was satisfied that the water was shallow. A solitary piece 
of] waving rush that grew upon the bank exactly opposite the crocodile 
would mark the position; thus, stooping down, I quietly retreated inland 
from the bank, and then running forward, I crept gently toward the rush. 
Stooping as low as possible, I advanced till very near the bank (upoa 
which grew tufts of grass), until, by slowly raising my head, I could 
observe the head of the crocodile in the same position, not more than, 
twenty-six or twenty-eight yards from me. 

"At that distance, my gun could hit a half-crown; I therefore made 
sure of bagging. The bank was about four feet above the water ; thus 







(307) 



308 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the angle was favorable, and I aimed just behind the eye. Almost as I 
touched the trigger, the crocodile gave a convulsive start, and turning 
slowly on its back, it stretched its four legs above the surface, straining 
every muscle ; it then remained motionless in this position in water about 
two feet deep. 

" My horse was always furnished with a long halter or tethering-rope: 
thus I ordered the guide and another man to jump into river and secure 
the crocodile by a rope fastened round the body behind the fore-legs. 
This was quickly accomplished, and the men remained knee-deep, hauling 
upon the rope to prevent the stream from carrying away the body. In 
the mean time an attendant had mounted my horse and galloped off for 
assistance to the camp. 

" Crocodiles are very tenacious of life ; and although they may be shot 
through the brain, and be actually dead for all practical purposes, they Avill 
remain motionless at first; but they will begin instinctively to move the 
limbs and tail a few minutes alter receiving the shot. If lying upon a 
sand-bank, or in deep water, they would generally disappear unless 
secured by a rope, as the spasmodic movements of the limbs and tail 
would act upon the water, and the body would be carried away. 
Men Stricken witli Terror. • 

" The crocodile, that had appeared stone dead, now began to move its 
tail, and my two men who were holding on to the rope cried out that it 
was still alive. It was in vain that I assured the frightened fellows that 
it was dead. I was on the bank, and they were in the water within a few 
feet of the crocodile, which made some difference in our ideas of its 
vivacity. Presently the creature really began to struggle, and the united 
efforts of the men could hardly restrain it from getting into deeper water, 

" The monster now began to yawn, which so terrified the men that they 
would have dropped the rope and fled, had they not been afraid of the con- 
sequences, as I was addressing them rather forcibly from the bank. I put 
another shot through the shoulder of the struggling monster, which ap- 
peared to act as a narcotic until the arrival of the soldiers with ropes. 
No sooner was the crocodile well secured than it began to struggle vio- 
lently; but a great number of men hauled upon the rope, and when it 
was safely landed, I gave it a blow with a sharp axe on the back of the 
neck, which killed it by dividing the spine. 

" It was now dragged along the turf until we reached the camp, where 
it was carefully measured with a tape, and showed an exact length of 
twelve feet three inches from snout to end of tail. 

*' The stomach contained about five pounds' weight of pebbles, as though 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 309 

it had fed upon flesh resting upon a gravel-bank, and had swallowed the 
pebbles that had adhered. In the midst of this were three undeniable wit- 
nesses that convicted the crocodile of willful murder. A necklace and two 
armlets, such as are worn by the negro girls, were taken from the stom- 
ach ! The girl had been digested. This was an old malefactor that was 
a good riddance. 

" I had frequently seen crocodiles upv/ard of eighteen feet in length, 
and there can be little doubt that they sometimes exceed twenty ; but a 
very small creature of this species may carry away a man while swim- 
ming. The crocodile does not attempt to swallow an animal at once ; 
but having carried it to a favorite feeding-place, generally in some deep 
hole, it tears it limb from limb with teeth and claws, and devours it at 

leisure." 

Stanley Quelling- Mutiny. 

As war was going on in the country, it was necessary for Stanley to 
proceed with caution. Some of his followers also showed a strong incli- 
nation to mutiny, which he had to quell by summary proceedings, and 
Bombay especially sank greatly in his good opinion. As they approached 
Lake Tanganyika all got into better humor, and confidence returned be- 
tween them. They laughed joyously as they glided in Indian file through 
the forest jungle beyond the clearing of Mrera, and 'boasted of their 
prowess. An ambassador from Simba, the Lion of Kasera, received two 
gorgeous cloths, and other articles, as tribute — Stanley thus making that 
chief a friend for ever. 

Stanley gives an interesting account of some of his adventures m this 
part of his journey. 

One day, he says, after a march of four hours and a half, we came to 

the beautiful stream of Mtambu — the water of which was sweet, and 

clear as crystal, and flowed northward. We saw for the first time the 

home of the lion and the leopard. Hear what Freiligrath says of the 

place : 

Where the thorny brake and thicket 

Densely fill the interspace 
Of the trees, through whose thick branches 

Never sunshine lights the place. 
There the lion dwells, a monarch, 

Mightiest among the brutes ; 
There his right to reign supremest 

Never one his claim disputes. 
There he layeth down to slumber, 

Having slain and ta'en his fill ; 
There he roameth, there he croucheth, 

As it suits his lordly will. 



310 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

We camped but a few yards from just such a place as the poet de- 
scribes. The herd-keeper who attended the goats and donkeys, soon 
after our arrival in camp, drove the animals to water, and" in order to 
obtain it they travelled through a tunnel in the brake, caused by ele- 
phants and rhinoceros. They had barely entered the dark cavernous 
passage, when a black-spotted leopard sprang, and fastened its fangs in 
the neck of one of the donkeys, causing it, from the pain, to bray 
hideously. Its companions set up such a frightful chorus, and so lashed 
their heels in the air at the feline marauder, that the leopard bounded 
away through the brake, as if in sheer dismay at the noisy cries which 
the attack had provoked. The donkey's neck exhibited some frightful 
wounds, but the animal was not dangerously hurt. 

*' I Peered Closely Into Every Dark Opening-." 

Thinking that possibly I might meet with an adventure with a lion or 
a leopard in that dark belt of tall trees, under whose impenetrable shade 
grew the dense thicket that formed such admirable coverts for the car- 
nivorous species, I took a stroll along the awesome place with the gun- 
bearer, Kalulu, carrying an extra gun, and afurther supply of ammunition. 

We crept cautiously along, looking keenly into the deep dark dens, 
the entrances of which were revealed to us, as we journeyed, expectant 
every moment to behold the reputed monarch of the brake and thicket, 
bound forward to meet us, and I took a special delight in picturing, in 
my imagination, the splendor and majesty of the wrathful brute, as he 
might stand before me. J peered closely into every dark opening, hoping 
to see the deadly glitter of the great angry eyes, and the glowering 
menacing front of the lion as he would regard me. But, alas ! after an 
hour's search for adventure, I had encountered nothing, and I accord- 
ingly waxed courageous, and crept into one of these leafy, thorny caverns, 
and found myself shortly standing under a canopy of foliage that was 
held above my head fully a hundred feet by the shapely and towering 
stems of the royal mvule. Who can imagine the position? A smooth 
lawn-like glade; a dense and awful growth of impenetrable jungle around 
us ; those stately natural pillars — a glorious phalanx of royal trees, bear- 
ing at such sublime heights' vivid green masses of foliage, through which 
no single sun-ray penetrated, while at our feet babbled the primeval brook, 
over smooth pebbles, in soft tones befitting the sacred quiet of the scene! 
Who could have desecrated this solemn, holy harmony of nature? 

Bufjust as I was thinking it impossible that any man could be tempted 
to disturb the serene solitude of the place, I saw a monkey perched high 
on a branch over my head, contemplating, with something of an awe- 



n 




(311) 



312 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

struck look, the strange intruders beneath. Well, I could not help it, I 
laughed — laughed loud and long, until I was hushed by the chaos of 
cries and strange noises which seemed to respond to my laughing. A 
troop of monkeys, hidden in the leafy depths above, had been rudely 
awakened, and, startled by the noise I made, were hunying away from 
the scene with a dreadful clamor of cries and shrieks. 
Encounter "Witli a Wild Boar. 

Emerging again into the broad sunlight, I strolled further in search of 
something to shoot. Presently, I saw, feeding quietly in the forest which 
bounded the valley of the Mtambu on the left, a huge, formidable 
wild boar, armed with most horrid tusks. Leaving Kalulu crouched 
down behind a tree, and my solar helmet behind another close by — that 
I might more safely stalk the animal — I advanced toward him some forty 
yards, and after taking a deliberate aim, fired at his fore shoulder. 

As if nothing had hurt him whatever, the animal made a furious bound, 
and then stood with his bristles erected, and tufted tail, curved over the 
back — a most formidable brute in appearance. While he was thus lis- 
tening, and searching the neighborhood with his keen, small eyes, 1 
planted another shot in his chest, which ploughed its way through his 
body. Instead of falling, however, as I expected he would, he charged 
furiously in the direction the bullet had come, and as he rushed past me,, 
another ball was fired, which went right through him ; but still he kept 
on, until, within six or seven yards from the trees behind which Kalulu 
was crouching down on one side, and the helmet was resting behind 
another, he suddenly halted, and then dropped. 

But as I was about to advance on him with my knife to cut his throat, 
he suddenly started up ; his eyes had caught sight of the little boy 
Kalulu, and were then, almost immediately afterwards, attracted by the 
sight of the snowy helmet. These strange objects on either side of him 
proved too much for the boar, for, with a terrific grunt, he darted on one 
side into a thick brake, from which it was impossible to oust him, and as 
it was now getting late, and the camp was about three miles away, I was 
reluctantly obliged to return without the meat. 

A River Full of Dang-ers. 

On our way to camp we were accompanied by a large animal which 
persistently followed us on our left. It was too dark to see plainly, but 
a large form was visible, if not very clearly defined. It must have been, 
a lion, unless it was the ghost of the dead boar. 

On the evening of the 2d of November the left bank of the Malagarazi 
river was reached. The greater part of the day had been occupied in 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 313 

negotaiting with the ambassador of the great Mzogera, chief of the greedy 
Wavinza tribe, who demanded an enormous tribute. This being settled, 
the ferrymen demanded equally preposterous payment for carrying across 
the caravan. These demands, however, having at length been settled,, 
the next business was to swim the donkeys across. One fine animal, 
Simba, was being towed with a rope round its neck, when just as it 
reached the middle of the stream, it was seen to struggle fearfully. An 
enormous crocodile had seized the poor animal by the throat; in vain it 
attempted to liberate itself. The black in charge tugged at the rope, 
but the donkey sank and was no more seen. Only one donkey 
now remained, and this was carried across by Bombay the next morning, 
before the voracious monsters were looking out for their breakfasts. 

The next day was an eventful one. Just before starting, a caravan was 
seen approaching, consisting of a large party of the Waguhha tribe, oc- 
cupying a tract of country to the southwest of Lake Tanganyika. 

The news was asked. A white man had been seen by them who had 
lately arrived at Ujiji from Manyuema. He had white hair and a white 
beard, and was sick. Only eight days ago they had seen him. He had 
been at Ujiji before, and had gone away and returned. There could be 
no doubt that this was Livingstone. How Stanley longv^i for a horse ! 
for on a good steed he could reach Ujiji in twelve hours. 
Nearing' tlie End of tlie Journey. 

In high spirits he started, pushing on as fast as his men could move» 
There were dangers, however, still in the way. A war party of Wavinza 
was out, who would not scruple even to rob their own villages when 
returning victorious from battle. 

Next day they traveled on in silence, but on the 5th they fell in with a 
party of the Wahha, who soon brought a band of warriors down upon 
them, at the head of which appeared a fine-looking chief, Mionvu by 
name, dressed in a crimson robe, with a turban on his head, he and his 
people being armed with spears, and bows and arrows. He asked 
whether it should be peace or war? The reply was, of course, peace. 
At the same time Stanley hinted that his rifles would quickly give him the 
victory should war be declared. Notwithstanding this Mionvu demanded 
a hundred cloths as tribute. Ten were offered. Rather than pay the 
hundred, Stanley asked his followers if they would fight, but Bombay 
urged pacific measures, remarking that the country was open — no places 
to hide in, and that every village would rise in arms. 

" Pay, Bana, pay : it is better to get along quietly in this country," he 
observed. 



•314 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Mabruki and Asmani agreed with him. The tribute was paid. Stanley 
wisely resolved, if possible, not to come back that way. 

A night march was determined on, and sufficient grain was purchased 

to last the caravan six days through the jungle. They hoped thus to 

escape the extortions of other chiefs to the westward. The men bravely 

toiled on, Avithout murmuring, though their feet and legs bled from the 

cutting grass. The jungle was alive with wild animals, but no one dared 

fire. 

Woman in Hysterics. 

As they were halting in the morning near the Rusugi river, a party of 
natives were seen, who detected them in their hiding-place, but who fled 
immediately to alarm some villages four miles away. At once the cara- 
van was ordered to move on, but one of the women took to screaming, 
and even her husband could not keep her quiet till a cloth was folded 
over her mouth. 

At night they bivouacked in silence, neither tent nor hut being erected, 
each soldier lying down with his gun loaded by his side, their gallant 
leader, Avith his Winchester rifle and its magazine full, ready for any 
emergency. 

Before dawn broke, the caravan was again on its march. The guide 
having mads a mistake, while it was still dark, they arrived in front of 
the village of Uhha. Silence was ordered ; goats and chickens which 
might have made a noise had their throats cut, and they pushed boldly 
through the village. Just as the last hut was passed, Stanley bringing up 
the rear, a man appeared fi-om his hut, and uttered a cry of alarm. 

They continued their course, plunging into the jungle. Once he be- 
lieved that they were followed, and he took post behind a tree to check 
the advance of their f jes ; but it proved a false alarm. Turning westward, 
broad daylight showed them a beautiful and picturesque country, wild 
fruit-trees, rare flowers, and brooks tumbling over polished pebbles. 
Crossing a streamlet, to their great satisfaction they left Uhha and its 
extortionate inhabitants behind, and entered Ukaranga. 

Their appearance created great alarm as they approached the village, 
the king and his people supposing them to be Rugruga, the followers of 
Mirambo, but,- discovering their mistake, they welcomed them cordially. 
On the loth of November, just two hundred and thirty-six days after 
leaving Bagomoyo, and fifty-one since they set out from Unyanyembe, 
surmounting a hill, Tanganyika is seen before them. Six hours' march 
will brine them to its shores. 



STANLEY'S HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. .315 

Stanley's emotions upon reaching the end of his great and perilous 
journey, and coming so near to the successful accomplishment of his 
undertaking, are best described in his own words : " A little further on — 
just yonder, oh ! there it is — a silvery gleam. I merely catch sight of it 
between the trees, and — but here it is at last! True — -the Tanganyika! 
and there are the blue-black mountains of Ugoma and Ukaramba. An 
immense broad sheet, a burnished bed of silver — lucid canopy of blue 
above — lofty mountains are its valances, palm forests form its fringes ! 
The Tanganyika ! — Hurrah! and the men respond to the exultant cry 
of the Anglo-Saxon with the lungs of Stentors, and the great forests and 
the hills seem to share in our triumph. 

" * Was this the place where Burton and Speke stood, Bombay, when 
they saw the lake first ? ' " 

" ' I don't remember, master ; it was somewhere about here, I think.' " 

"* Poor fellows ! The one was half-paralyzed the other half- blind,' " 
•said Sir Roderick Murchison, when he described Burton and Speke's 
-arrival in view of the Tanganyika. 

Stanley's Joy. 

" And I ? Well, I am so happy that, were I quite paralyzed and blinded, 
I think that at this supreme moment I could take up my bed and walk, 
-and all blindness would cease at once. Fortunately, however, I am quite 
well ; I have not suffered a day's sickness since the day 1 left Unyanyembe. 
How much would Shaw be willing to give to be in my place now ? Who 
is happiest — he, revelling in the luxuries of Unyanyembe, or I, standing 
on the summit of this mountain, looking down with glad eyes and proud 
heart on the Tanganyika ? " 

It can easily be seen from the foregoing extract that Stanley's heart was 
almost too full to contain itself His spirits bubble and overflow like 
those of a boy excited and charmed by coming into possession of some- 
thing greatly coveted. The one thing coveted by Stanley, sought by 
him through those weary days and dreadful marches, was the discovery 
of Livingstone ; for this he went. This one object he kept continually 
before him. Never losing sight of it, he pressed on until we find him 
now looking down upon the lake on the shores of which he was to meet 
the object of his long search. 

A man is worth looking for, especially such a man as Livingstone. 
Many, many years of his precious life were devoted to African explora- 
tion, and the benefit conferred upon him by Stanley's arrival was as 
nothing compared to the infinite benefit he, by his labors and triumphs, 
has conferred upon the world. 



316 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Best of all in this marvellous transaction, Livingstone had no idea that 
anyone was seeking him ; that anyone had been sent to find out whether 
he were alive or dead ; that any supplies had been forwarded for his 
relief; that any special interest was taken in him more than a general 
desire to learn of his welfare. Stanley's coming was a happy surprise.- 
It must have been more enjoyable to Livingstone than if rumors had 
gone ahead of Stanley's expedition, and it had become known that he 
was on the march. There is everything about this completion of Stan- 
ley's journey to give us satisfaction, and nothing seems to be wanting to 
finish the picture. 

Very clearly does the lesson come out that an iron will and a persistent 
perseverance will master difficulties. There were many points in this 
journey from Zanzibar to Ujiji in which discouragement might have car- 
ried the day ; many points where it would have been much easier to turn 
back than to go forward. The path trodden was at least known ; the 
path to be trod was unknown, and the explorer could not guess what 
dangers and obstacles were just ahead. Whatever may have been his 
fears, he did not allow them to prevail, but day by day, and hour by 
hour, pressed steadily forward. Sickness came, his force was diminished, 
wild savages attacked him, privations were his constant companions, yet, 
through it all, the vision of the lost explorer stood before him and he 
remembered the words of Bennett, in the brilliant capital of Europe — far 
away from these scenes of savage life and mountainous difficulties — " Find 
Livingstone." § 

This whole marvellous story illustrates the value of a great purpose, a 
single aim, an unconquerable resolution. To-morrow Henry M. Stanley 
and David Livingstone will meet — two white men in the wilds of Africa, 
both immortal now, and both ranked among the world's great heroes. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 

Stanley's Perseverance — Mastering Mountains of Difficulty — Bent on Finding Living- 
stone—Characteristics of the Two Great Explorers— Livingstone's Touching 
Reference to the Death of His Wife — Wonderful Results of African Exploration- 
Stanley Approaches Ujiji— News of a Brother White Man — Great Excitement 
Among the Travellers — Unfurling Flags and Firing Guns — Ujiji Surprised by the 
Coming of the Caravan— People Rusliing by Hundreds to Meet Stanley— Joyous 
Welcome — Meeting the Servant of Livingstone — Flags, Streamers and Greet- 
ings — Livingstone's Surprise — The Great Travellers Face to Face— Stanley 
Relating the News of the Past Six Years — Livingstone's Personal Appearance — 
A Soldier from Unyanyembe— A Celebrated Letter Bag — Letters a Year Old — 
Narrative of Great Events — What Livingstone Thought of Stanley's Arrival — 
Letter to James Gordon Bennett — The Explorer's Forlorn Condition — On the 
Eve of Death when Stanley Arrived — Livingstone Thrilled by Mr. Bennett's 
Kmdness— Some Account of the Country Visited— Discussing Future Plans — 
Stanley's Description of Livingstone— Fine Example' of the Anglo-Saxon Spirit — 
Life Given to Ethiopia's Dusky Children — Livingstone's Marvellous Love for 
Africa. 

"^ONG and perilous days those were which were passed by Stanley 
and his caravan. Yet they illustrate one of the most important 
lessons of life, which is that no one is to make more than a day's 
journey at a time and that the most practical method of overcoming 
difficulties is to take them and master them one by one. If Stanley had 
been less resolute, if he had been easily discouraged, if he were one of 
the men who make a sudden start and then as suddenly halt, if he had 
not been a kind of Hercules in body and in soul, if he had possessed less 
of the push and enterprise which always go with a great character, the 
world would never have rung with acclaim at his achievements. 

It was a new experience to him, that of traversing the wilds of the 
Dark Continent, quelling mutiny among his men, meeting unfriendly 
chiefs who were given to rapacious extortion, and plunging on through 
jungles, thickets and pathless tracts,- untrodden and unmarked, yet he 
had gone with the definite purpose of finding Livingstone, and, as we 
read the story of his successful search, we are quite ready to believe that 
iie would sooner have laid down his life than failed in his undertaking. 

Livingstone was a man nearly sixty years old; Stanley had on his side 
all the advantages of youth. He had been toughened by early adversity, 
by travelling in various climes, exposure to all winds and all weathers, 

(317) 



318 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

and it may be doubted whether any other man in our time has been so 
well equipped with courage, latent resources, command of men, sturdy 
heroism and self-sacrifice as he was for the almost miraculous task con- 
fided to him by his wealthy and enterprising patron, Mr. Bennett. 

In reading of his adventures and successes, we are quite apt to lose 
sight of certain great results which must inevitably follow from his jour- 
neys in Africa. We see only the lost explorer, Livingstone, admired 
and beloved by half the world, his terrible sufferings and the slow wast- 
ing of his life. But this man, this hero to whom so many eyes are 
turned, this great explorer, who, like Stanley, was much more than a 
mere adventurer, is only one figure in the vivid scene which passes before 
our eyes. It will not do to limit our thought to either of these men or 
to both of them. 

Two Famous Travellers. 

Livingstone had forsaken his early home and his fatherland ; all the 
hardship that comes to one by being in an uncivilized country fell to his 
lot ; the wife who had shared his fortunes, and quite as often, his misfor- 
tunes, had been rudely torn from his side; the vast benefit to savage 
races which she as well as her illustrious husband was capable of impart- 
ing was suddenly lost. The beautiful and touching reference of Living- 
stone to her grave, which has been related, is something that must move 
the heart of every reader. 

Stanley's journeys were free from some of the incidents which are so 
thrilling in those of the one he was trying to find, yet others fell to his 
lot with which Livingstone was unacquainted. And so this man stands^ 
out in strong proportions, with a most remarkable individuality of his 
own ; a man raised up for a certain work, peculiar in his make-up, en- 
dowed for adventure and exploit, and ages hence history will turn to him 
and write some of its most eloquent pages. 

Still it is true that the great interest of African exploration does not 
gather around either of these men, or both of them, except as they are 
the instruments for penetrating a continent hitherto dark and unknown ; 
for what they achieved in bringing the dark races of Africa under the 
full light of modern civilization and Christianity is, after all, the finest 
thing to be noted. Whoever studies history knows very well that every 
man is building higher than he thinks, accomplishing more than he 
imagines, casting off results that are left behind him as he crowds on, 
while his unconscious influence and the incidental effects of his life and 
undertakings are such as we have no scales for weighing. 

We closed the last chapter by leaving Stanley within a short distance 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 



319 



of Ujiji, where he had every reason to believe he would find Livingstone. 
Here one part of our narrative of African exploration culminates, and 
unwonted interest attends it. After having been lost half a dozen years, 
Livingstone is to be met by a brother white man, who will assure him 




that the world is interested in his welfare. It will be to him a surprise, 
and a piece of intelligence as gratifying as it is unexpected. It will con- 
vince him that his heroic sacrifices are not forgotten, and will be treas- 
ured and commemorated after he is gone. 

In his thrilling account of the meeting with Livingstone, Stanley 



320 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

says : We push on rapidly, lest the news of our coming might reach the 
people of Ujiji before we come in sight, and are ready for them. We 
halt at a little brook, then ascend the long slope of a naked ridge, the 
very last of the myriads we have crossed. This alone prevents us from 
seeing the lake in all its vastness. We arrive at the summit, travel 
across and arrive at its western rim, and — pause, reader — the port of 
Ujiji is below us, embowered in the palms, only five hundred yards 
from us. 

At this grand moment we do not think of the hundreds of miles we 
have marched, or of the hundreds of hills that we have ascended and de- 
scended, or of the many forests we have traversed, or of the jungles and 
thickets that annoyed us, or of the fervid salt plains that blistered our 
feet, or of the hot sun that scorched us, nor of the dangers and difficul- 
ties, now happily surmounted ! 

** One, Two, Three,— Fire ! " 

At last the sublime hour had arrived ; — our dreams, our hopes, and 
•anticipations are now about to be realized ! Our hearts and our feehngs 
are with our eyes, as we peer into the palms and try to make out in 
which hut or house lives the " white man with the gray beard " we had 
already heard about. . 

" Unfurl the flags, and load your guns ! " 

" We will, master, we will, master ! " respond the men eagerly. 

" One, two, three, — fire ! " 

A volley from nearly fifty guns roars like a salute from a battery of 
artillery; we shall note its effect presently on the peaceful-looking village 
below. 

" Now, kirangozi, hold the white man's flag up high, and let the Zan- 
zibar flag bring up the rear. And you men keep close together, and 
keep firing until we halt in the market-place, or before the white man's 
house. You have said to me often that you could smell the fish of the 
Tanganyika — I can smell the fish of the Tanganyika now. There are fish, 
and beer, and a long rest waiting for you. March ! " 

Before we had gone a hundred yards our repeated volleys had the 
effect desired. ^ We had awakened Ujiji to the knowledge that a caravan 
was coming, and the people were witnessed rushing up in. hundreds to 
meet us. The mere sight of the flags informed every one immediately 
that we were a caravan, but the American flag borne aloft by gigantic 
Asmani, whose face was one vast smile on this day, rather staggered 
them at first. However, many of the people who now approached us, 
remembered the flag. They had seen it float above the American Con- 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 321 

sulate, and from the mast-head of many a ship in the harbor of Zanzibar, 

and they were soon heard welcoming the beautiful flag with cries of 

" Bindera Kisungu ! " — a white man's flag ! " Bindera Merikani ! " — the 

American flag ! 

Joyous Welcome. 

Then we were surrounded by them and were almost deafened with the 
shouts of " Yambo, yambo, bana ! Yambo, bana ! Yambo, bana ! " To 
each and all of my men the welcome was given. 

We were now about three hundred yards from the village of Ujiji, and 
the crowds are dense about me. Suddenly I hear a voice on my right 
say, 

" Good morning, sir! " 

Startled at hearing this greeting in the midst of such a crowd of black 
people, I turn sharply around in search of the man, and see him at my 
side, with the blackest of faces, but animated and joyous — a man dressed 
in a long white shirt, with a turban of American sheeting around his 
woolly head, and I ask: 

"Who the mischief are you?" 

"I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone," said he, smihng, and 
'showing a gleaming row of teeth. 

"What! Is Dr. Livingstone here?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"In this village?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Sure, sure, sir. Why I leave him just now." 

"Good morning sir," said another voice. 

"Hallo," said I, "is this another one?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Well, what is your name?" 

"My name is Chumah, sir." 

"What! are you Chumah, the friend of Wekotani?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"And is the doctor well?" 

" Not very well, sir." 

" Where has he been so long?" 

" In Manyuema." 

" Now, you Susi, run and tell the doctor I am coming." 

" Yes, sir," and off he darted like a madman. 

But by this time we were within two hundred yards of the village, and 
21 



322 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the multitude was getting denser, and almost preventing our march. 
Flags and streamers were out; Arabs and Wangwana were pushing 
their way through the natives in order to greet us, for according to their 
account, we belonged to them. But the great wonder of all was, " How 
did you come from Unyanyembe ? " 

Soon Susi came running back, and asked me my name ; he had told 
the doctor I was coming, but the doctor was too surprised to believe 
him, and when the doctor asked him my name, Susi was rather stag- 
gered. 

But, during Susi's absence, the news had been conveyed to the doctor 
that it was surely a white man that was coming, whose guns were firing, 
and whose flag could be seen; and the great Arab magnates of Ujiji — 
Mohammed bin SaH, Sayd bin Majid, Abidbin Suliman, Mohammed bin 
Gharib, and others — had gathered together before the doctor's- house, and 
the doctor had come out from his veranda to discuss the matter and 
await my arrival. 

In the meantime, the head of the Expedition had halted, and the kir- 
angozi was out of the ranks, holding his flag aloft, and Selim said to me, 
"I see the doctor, sir. Oh, what an old man! He has got a white 
beard." And I — what would I not have given for a bit of friendly wil- 
derness, where, unseen, I might vent my joy in some mad freak, such as 
idiotically biting my hand, turning a somersault, or slashing at trees, in 
order to allay those exciting feelings that were well-nigh uncontrollable. 
My heart beats fast, but I must not let my face betray my emotions, lest 
it shall detract from the dignity of a white man appearing under such ex- 
traordinary circumstances. 

The Travellers Meet. 

So I did that which 1 thought was most dignified. I pushed back the 
crowds, and, passing from the rear, walked down a living avenue of peo- 
ple, until I came in front of the semicircle of Arabs, before which stood 
the " white man with a grey beard." 

As I advanced slowly towards him I noticed he was pale, that he looked 
wearied and wan, that he had grey whiskers and moustache, that he wore 
a bluish cloth cap with a faded gold band on a red ground round it, and 
that he had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of grey tweed 
trousers. 

I would have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a 
mob — would have embraced him, but that I did not know how he would 
receive it ; so I did what moral cowardice and false pride suggested was 
the best thing — walked deliberately to him, took ofl" my hat, and said : 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 



323 



" Dr. Livingstone, I presume ? " 

" Yes," said he, with a kind, cordial smile, lifting his cap slightly. 




I replaced my hat on my head, and he replaced his cap, and we both 
grasped hands. I then said aloud : 



21 



324 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" I thank God, Doctor, I have been permitted to see you." 

He answered, " I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you.'* 
Wliat News After Six Years. 

I turned to the Arabs, took off my hat to them in response to the 
saluting chorus of " Yambos " I received, and the doctor introduced them 
to me by name. Then, oblivious of the crowds, oblivious of the men 
who shared with me my dangers, we — Livingstone and I — turned our 
facts towards his house. He pointed to the veranda, or rather, mud plat- 
form, under the broad overhanging eaves ; he pointed to his own particu- 
lar seat, which I saw his age and- experience in Africa had suggested, 
namely, a straw mat, with a goatskin over it, and another skin nailed 
against the wall to protect his back from contact with the cold mud. I 
protested against taking this seat, which so much more befitted him 
than me, but the doctor would not yield: I must take it. 

We were seated — the doctor and I — with our backs to the wall. ■ The 
Arabs took seats on our left. More than a thousand natives were in our 
front, filling the whole square densely, indulging their curiosity, and dis- 
cussing the fact of two white men meeting at Ujiji — one just come from 
Manyuema, in the west, the other from Unyanyembe, in the east. 

Conversation began. What about? I declare I have forgotten. Oh! 
we mutually asked questions of one another, such as: 

"How did you come here?" and "Where have you been all this long 
time? — the world has believed you to be dead." Yes, that was the way 
it began; but whatever the doctor informed me, and that which I com- 
municated to him, I cannot correctly report, for I found myself gazing at 
him, conning the wonderful figure and face of the man at whose side I 
now sat in Central Africa. 

Marvellous History of Deeds. 

Every hair of his head and beard, every wrinkle of his face, the wanness 
of his features, and the slightly wearied look he wore, were all imparting 
intelligence to me — the knowledge I craved for so much ever since I 
heard the word.^, " Take what you want, but find Livingstone." What I 
saw was deeply interesting intelligence to me, and unvarnished truth. I 
was listening and reading at the same time. What did these dumb wit- 
nesses relate to me? 

Oh, reader, had you been at my side on this day in Ujiji, how elo- 
quently could be told the nature of this man's work! Had you been 
there but to see and hear! His lips gave me the details; lips that never 
lie. I cannot repeat what he said; I was too much engrossed to take my 
note-book out, and begin to stenograph his story. He had so much to 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 325 

say that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious of the fact that five or 
six years had to be accounted fo"-. But his account was oozing out; it 
was growing fast into grand proportions — into a most marvellous history 
of deeds. 

The Arabs rose up, with a dehcacy I approved, as if they intuitively 
knew that we ought to be left to ourselves. 

I sent Bombay with them to give them the news they also wanted so 
much to know about the affairs at Unyanyembe. Sayd bin Majid was 
the father of the gallant young man whom I saw at Masangi, and who 
fought with me at Zimbizo, and who soon afterwards was killed by Mi- 
rambo's Ruga-Ruga in the forest of Wilyankuru ; and, knowing that I 
had been there, he earnestly desired to hear the tale of the fight ; but 
they had all friends at Unyanyembe, and it was but natural that they 
should be anxious to hear of what concerned them. 

Letters A Year Old. 

After giving orders to Bombay and Asmani for the provisioning of the 
men of the Expedition, I called " Kaif-Halek," or " How-do-ye-do," and 
introduced him to Dr. Livingstone as one of the soldiers in charge of 
certain goods left at Unyanyembe, whom I had compelled to accompany 
me to Ujiji, that he might deliver in person to his master the letter-bag 
with which he had been intrusted. This was that famous letter-bag 
marked "Nov. 1st, 1870," which was now delivered into the doctor's 
hands 365 days after it left Zanzibar! How long, I wonder, had it re- 
mained at Unyanyembe had I not been despatched into Central Africa in 
search of the great traveller ? 

The doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then, presently, opened it, 
looked at the letters contained there, and read one or two of his chil- 
dren's letters, his face in the meanwhile lighting up. 

He asked me to tell him the news. " No, doctor," said I, " read your 
letters first, which I am sure you must be impatient to read." 

"Ah," said he," I have waited years for letters, and I have been taught 
patience. I can surely afford to wait a few hours longer. No, tell me 
the general news : how is the world getting along ?" 

" You probably know much already. Do you know that the Suez 
Canal is a fact — is opened, and a regular trade carried on between Europe 
and India through it ?" 

" I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that is grand news ! 
What else ?" 

Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual periodical to 
him. There was no need of exaggeration — or any penny-a-line news, or 



326 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

of any sensationalism. The world had witnessed and experienced much 
the last few years. The Pacific Railroad had been completed ; Grant 
had been elected President of the United States; Egypt had been flooded 
with savans ; the Cretan rebellion had terminated ; a Spanish revolution 
iiad driven Isabella from the throne of Spain, and a Regent had been ap- 
pointed ; General Prim was assassinated ; a Castelar had electrified 
Europe with his advanced ideas upon the liberty of worship; Prussia 
had humbled Denmark, and annexed Schleswig-Holstein,and her armies 
were now around Paris; the "man of Destiny" was a prisoner at WW- 
helmshohe ; the Queen of Fashion and the Empress of the French was 
a fugitive; and the child born in the purple had lost forever the Imperial 
crown intended for his head ;' the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished by 
the Prussians, Bismarck and Von Moltke ; and France, the proud em- 
pire, was humbled to the dust. 

What could a man have exaggerated of these facts ? What a budget 
of news it was to one who had emerged from the depths of the primeval 
forests of Manyuema ! The reflection of the dazzling light of civiliza- 
tion was cast on him while Livingstone was thus listening in wonder to 
one of the most exciting pages of history ever repeated. How the puny 
deeds of barbarism paled before these! Who could tell under what new 
])hases of uneasy life Europe was laboring even then, while we, two of 
her lonely children, rehearsed the tale of her late woes and glories ? 
More worthily, perhaps, had the tongue of a lyric Demodocus recounted 
them; but, in the absence of the poet, the newspaper correspondent per- 
formed his part as well and truthfully as he could. 

What was thought by Livingstone himself about the arrival of Stanley, 
which had probably prolonged his sinking life, is fully set forth in a 
letter to Mr. Bennett, who had sent Stanley into the dark wilderness of 
Africa. This letter deserves to be put on record, and especially here in 
the history of those marvellous achievements in Africa, which have awak- 
ened the interest of the civilized world. 

Ujiji, ON Tanganyika, East Africa, 
November, 1871. 
James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Esq. 

My dear Sir, — It is in general somewhat difficult to write to one we 
have never seen — it feels so much like addressing an abstract idea — but 
the presence of your representative, Mr. H. M. Stanley, in this distant 
region takes away the strangeness I should otherw i.^e have felt, and in 
writing to thank you for the extreme kindness that prompted you to 
send him, I feel quite at home. 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 327 

If I explain the forlorn condition in which he found me you will easily 
perceive that I have good reason to use very strong expressions of grat- 
itude. I came to Ujiji off a tramp of between four hundred and five 
hundred miles, beneath a blazing vertical sun, having been baffled, wor- 
ried, defeated and forced to return, when almost in sight of the end of 
the geographical part of my mission, by a number of half-caste Moslem 
slaves sent to me from Zanzibar, instead of men. The sore heart made 
still sorer by the woeful sights I had seen of man's inhumanity to man 
racked and told on the bodily frame, and depressed it beyond measure. 
I thought that I was dying on my feet. It is not too much to say that 
almost every step of the weary sultry way was in pain, and I reached 
Ujiji a mere ruckle of bones. 

There I found that some five hundred pounds' sterling worth of goods 
which I had ordered from Zanzibar had unaccountably been entrusted 
to a drunken half-caste Moslem tailor, who, after squandering them for 
sixteen months on the way to Ujiji, finished up by selling off all that re- 
mained for slaves and ivory for himself He had " divined " on the Koran 
and found that I was dead. He had also written to the Governor of 
Unyanyembe that he had sent slaves after me to Manyuema, who returned 
and reported my decease, and begged permission to sell off the few goods 
that his drunken appetite had spared. 

He, however, knew perfectly well, from men who had seen me, that I 
was alive, and waiting for the goods and men ; but as for morality, he is 
■ evidently an idiot, and there being no law here except that of the dagger 
or musket, I had to sit down in great weakness, destitute of everything 
save a few barter cloths and beads, which I had taken the precaution to 
leave here in case of extreme need. 

The near prospect of beggary among Ujijians made me miserable. 

I could noj; despair, because I laughed so much at a friend who, on 
reaching the mouth of the Zambezi, said that he was tempted to despair 
on breaking the photoc^raph of his wife. We could have no success after 
that. Afterward the idea of despair had to me such a strong smack of 
the ludicrous that it was out of the question. 

Well, when I had got to about the lowest verge, vague rumors of an 
English visitor reached me. I thought of myself as the man who went 
down from Jerusalem to Jericho ; but neither priest, Levite, nor Samari- 
tan could possibly pass my way. Yet the good Samaritan was close at 
hand, and one of my people rushed up at the top of his speed, and, in 
great excitement, gasped out, "An Englishman coming! I see him !"and 
off he darted to meet him. 



328 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

An American flag, the first ever seen in these parts, at the head of a 
caravan, told me the nationahty of the stranger. 

I am as cold and non-demonstrative as we islanders are usually reputed 
to be ; but your kindness made my frame thrill. It was, indeed, over- 
whelming, and I said in my soul, " Let the richest blessings descend from 
the Highest on you and yours !" 

The news Mr. Stanley had to tell was thrilling. The mighty polit- 
ical changes on the Continent ; the success of the Atlantic cables ; the 
election of General Grant, and many other topics riveted my attention for 
days together, and had an immediate and beneficial effect on my health. 
I had been without news from home for years save what I could glean 
from a few " Saturday Reviews '' and " Punch " of 1868. The appetite 
revived, and in a week I began to feel strong again. 

Mr. Stanley brought a most kind and encouraging despatch from Lord 
Clarendon (whose loss I sincerely deplore), the first I have received from 
the Foreign Office since 1866, and information that the British Govern- 
ment had kindly sent a thousand pounds sterling to my aid. Up to his 
arrival I was not aware of any pecuniary aid. I came unsalaried, but 
this want is now happily repaired, and I am anxious that you and all my 
friends should know that, though uncheered by letter, I have stuck to 
the task which my friend Sir Roderick Murchison set me with " John 
Bullish " tenacity, believing that all would come right at last. 

The watershed of South Central Africa is over seven hundred miles in 
length. The fountains thereon are almost innumerable — that is, it would 
take a man's lifetime to count them. From the watershed they converge 
into four large rivers, and these again into two mighty streams in the 
great Nile valley, which begins in ten degrees to twelve degrees south 
latitude. It was long ere light dawned on the, ancient problem and gave 
me a clear idea of the drainage. I had to feel my way, and every step of 
the way, and was, generally, groping in the dark — for who cared where 
the rivers ran ? " We drank our fill and let the rest run by." 

The Portuguese who visited Casembe asked for slaves and ivory, and 
heard of nothing else. I asked about the waters, questioned and cross- 
questioned, until I was almost afraid of being set down as afflicted with 
hydrocephalus. 

My last work, in which I have been greatly hindered from want of 
suitable attendants, was following the central line of drainage down 
through the country of the cannibals, called Manyuema, or, shortly, 
Manyema. This line of drainage has four large lakes in it. The fourth 
I was near when obliged to turn. It is from one to three miles broad, 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 329 

and never can be reached at any point, or at any time of the year. Two 
western drains, the Lufira, or Bartle Frere's River, flow into it at Lake 
Kamolondo. Then the great River Lomane flows through Lake Lincoln 
into it too, and seems to form the western arm of the Nile, on which 
Petherick traded. 

Now, I knew about six hundred miles of the watershed, and unfortu- 
nately the seventh hundred is the most interesting of the whole; for in it, 
if I am not mistaken, four fountains arise from an earthen mound, and the 
last of the four becomes, at no great distance off, a large river. 

Two of these run north to Egypt, Lufira and Lomame, and two run 
south into inner Ethiopia, as the Leambaye, or Upper Zambezi, and the 
Kaful. 

Are not these the sources of the Nile mentioned by the Secretary of 
Minerva, in the city of Sais, to Herodotus ? 

I have heard of them so often, and at great distances off, that I cannot 
doubt their existence, and in spite of the sore longing for home that 
seizes me every time I think of my family, I wish to finish up by their 
rediscovery. 

Five hundred pounds sterling worth of goods have again unaccount- 
ably been entrusted to slaves, and have been over a year on the way, 
instead of four months. I must go where they lie at your expense, ere I 
can put the natural completion to my work. 

I conclude by again thanking you most cordially for your great gener- 
osity, and am, Gratefully yours, 

David Livingstone. 
Help la thie Hour of Need. 

At the time, when reduced almost to. death's door by sickness and 
disappointment, the assistance thus brought to Dr. Livingstone was of 
inestimable worth. What might have been his fate had he not been 
relieved, it is impossible to say. The society of his new friend, the letters 
from home, the well-cooked meal which the doctor was able to enjoy, 
and the champagne quaffed out of silver goblets, and brought carefully 
those hundreds of miles for that special object, had a wonderfully exhila- 
rating influence. 

Some days were spent at Ujiji, during which the doctor continued to 
regain health and strength. Future plans were discussed, and his pre- 
vious adventures described. The longer the intercourse Stanley enjoyed 
with Livingstone, the more he rose in his estimation. 

He formed, indeed, a high estimate of his character, though, he fully 
believed, a just one. 



330 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" Dr. Livingstone," he says, " is about sixty years old. His hair has a 
brownish color, but here and there streaked with grey lines over the 
temples. His beard and moustache are veiy grey. His eyes, which are 
hazel, are remarkably bright : he has a sight keen as a hawk's. His 
frame is a little over the ordinary height ; when walking, he has a firm 
but heavy tread, like that of an over-worked or fatigued man. I never 
observed any spleen or misanthrophy about him. 

A Kemarkable Man. 

" He has a fund of quiet humor, which he exhibits at all tirnes when he 
is among friends. During the four months I was with him I noticed 
him every evening making most careful notes. His maps evince great 
care and industry. He is sensitive on the point of being doubted or 
criticized. His gentleness never forsakes him, his hopefulness never 
deserts him ; no harassing anxiety or distraction of mind, though sepa- 
rated from home and kindred, can make him complain. He thinks all 
will come out right at last, he has such faith inthe goodness of Provi- 
dence. Another thing which especially attracted my attention was his 
wonderfully retentive memory. His religion is not of the theoretical 
kind, but it is constant, earnest, sincere, practical ; it is neither demon- 
strative nor loud, but manifests itself in a quiet, practical Way, and is 
always at work. Ih him religion exhibits its loveliest features; it governs 
his conduct not only towards his servants, but towards the natives. I 
observed that universal respect was, paid to him; even the Mahomme- 
dans never passed his hou^ without calling to pay their compliments, 
and to say : * The blessing of God rest on you ! ' Every Sunday morn- 
ing he gathers his little flock around him, and reads prayers and a chap- 
ter from the Bible in a natural, unaffected, and sincere tone, and after- 
wards delivers a short address inthe Kisawahili language, about the sub- 
ject read to them, which is listened to with evident interest and attention. 

" His consistent energy is native to him and his race. He is a very 
fine example of the perseverance, doggedness, and tenacity which char- 
acterizes the Anglo-Saxon spirit. His ability to withstand the climate 
is due not only to the happy constitution with which he was born, but to 
the strictly temperate life he has ever led, 

" It is a principle with him to do well what he undertakes to do, and, 
in the consciousness that he is doing it, despite the yearning for his 
home, which is sometimes overpowering, he finds to a certain extent con- 
tentment, if not happiness. 

" He can be charmed with the primitive simplicity of Ethiopia's dusky 
children, with whom he has spent so many years of his life. He has a 



STANLEY FINDS THE LOST EXPLORER. 331 

sturdy faith in their capability — sees virtue in them, where others see 
nothing but savagery; and wherever he has gone among them, he has 
sought to ameliorate the condition of a people who are apparently for- 
gotten of God and Christian men." 

In another place Stanley says : " Livingstone followed the dictates of 
duty. Never was such a willing slave to that abstract virtue. His incli- 
nations impell him home, the fascinations of which require the sternest 
resolution to resist. With every foot of new ground he travelled over 
he forged a chain of sympathy which should hereafter bind the Christian 
nations in bonds of love and charity to the heathen of the African Tropics. 
If we were able to complete this chain of love by actual discovery, and, 
by a description of them, to embody such people and nations as still live 
in darkness, so as to attract the good and charitable of his own land to 
bestir themselves for their redemption and salvation, this Livingstone 
would consider an ample reward. 

"Surely, as the sun shines on both Christian and infidel, civilized and 
pagan, the day of enlightenment will come; and though the apostle of 
Africa may not behold it himself, nor we younger men, nor yet our chil- 
dren, the hereafter will see it, and posterity will recognize the daring 
pioneer of its civilization." 

Yes, and Stanley might have added : with his enlarged and far-seeing 
mind, this is what encourages Livingstone to persevere in his task to do 
what he knows no other man can do as well. It might be far pleasanter 
to tell crowded congregations at home about the wrongs of the sons and 
daughters of Africa, but, with the spirit of a true apostle, he remains 
among those whose wrongs it is the ardent desire of his soul to right, 
that he may win their love and confidence, and open up the way by which 
others may with greater ease continue the task he has commenced. 



CHAPTER XV. 
LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 

Stanley and Livingstone at Ujiji— Cruise on Lake Tanganyika — Giants of African 
Discovery — Meeting Enemies Upon the Shores — Geographers wlio Never Travel 
— Dusky Forms Dodging From Rock to Rock — Mountains Seven Thousand Feet 
High —Important Discovery — Livingstone's Desperate Resolve — Stanley Leaves 
for Zanzibar — Affecting Parting Between the Two Great Explorers — Living- 
stone's Intended Route — Later Search Expeditions — Livingstone's Sad and 
Romantic History — Timely Arrival of Reinforcements from Stanley — Start for 
the Southwest at Last Made — Without Food for Eight Days— Westward Once 
More— Continued Plunging In and Out of Morasses — Turbid Rivers and Miry 
Swamps — Natives Afraid of the White Man —Extract from the " Last Journals " — 
Crossing the Chambeze — Gigantic Difficulties Encountered— Livingstone Again 
Very 111 — "Pale, Bloodless and Weak from Profuse Bleeding "—Rotten Tents 
Torn to Shreds — The Last Service — Livingstone Carried on a Litter — The Doctor 
Falls from His Donkey— A Night's Rest in a Hut — Natives Gather Round the 
Litter— A Well-known Chirf Meets the Caravan — The Last Words Livingstone 
Ever Wrote — The Dying Hero Slowly Carried by Faithful Attendants — The Last 
Stage — Drowsiness and Insensibility — Lying Under the Broad Eaves of a Native 
Hut — The Final Resting Place — Livingstone's Dying Words — The World's Great 
Hero Dead — Sorrowful Procession to the Coast — Body Transported to England — 
Funeral in Westminster Abbey — Crowds of Mourners and Eloquent Eulogies — 
Inscription on the Casket. . 



*IVE days later, when much intensely interesting information had been 
exchanged between the two heroes of travel, the trip to the north of 
Tanganyika was commenced. Embarking at Ujiji, with a few picked 
followers, the explorers cruised up the eastern cost, halting at different 
villages for the night, and on the 29th November reached, at the very 
head of the lake, the mouth of the Rusizi river, respecting the course of 
which great doubt had hitherto been entertained, some geographers sup- 
posing it to flow into and others out of the lake. In the latter case Tan- 
ganyika might possibly empty its waters through it into the Albert 
Nyanza of Baker, and the supposition that the two lakes were connected 
would receive confirmation. 

It will be seen by the observant reader that the reason why such her- 
culean efforts have been made to ascertain the existence and dimensions 
of the great inland lakes of Africa, was to discover, if possible, the real 
sources of the Nile, concerning which the world has been for centuries in 
ignorance. To ^olve the wonderful secret, explorations have been made 

(332) 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 333 

that embody the most thrilling achievements, and the most heroic 
deeds. 

Such giants of African discovery as David Livingstone, Speke and 
Burton, Stanley and Cameron, seized on Lake Tanganyika with a power- 
ful grip, and in spite of all its slippery wriggling, did not loosen their 
hold until it had yielded up its secrets. Tanganyika, like the Albert 
Nyanza, is an enormous "trough" or crevasse, sunk far below the level 
of the high table-land which occupies the whole centre of Africa from 
the Abyssinian mountains on the east to the Cameroons on the west 
coast, and terminating towards the south only with Table Mountain. 
Though its shores are not, perhaps, generally so steep as those of other 
lakes, the surrounding mountain walls are as high. Its length is greater 
than any of the others, being little short of five hundred miles. Its 
waters are very deep, and sweet to the taste, proving almost conclusively 
that it must have an outlet somewhere ; for lakes which have no means 
of draining away their waters, and sustain themselves by a balance of 
inflow and evaporation, are salt or brackish. But while the Albert is 
undoubtedly part of the Nile basin, to what great river does Tanganyika 
present its surplus ? 

<* Tlie Enemy Rushed Out Howling- Furiously.'* 

The first notion was that it was a far outlying branch of ancient Nilus. 
Arm-chair geographers constructed a remarkable lake, in shape like a 
Highland bagpipe. The swollen "bag" represented a shadow of the 
Victoria Nyanza, drawn from native report, and it was joined to the long 
" chanter" of Tanganyika as actually seen by Burton's party. Living- 
stone was strongly convinced that the outlet of the lake would be found 
at the extreme northern end, and that its waters went to reinforce the 
Nile. Seeing, however, is believing; and from Ujiji he set out in com- 
pany with Stanley to discover the "connecting link." The voyage was 
not without its dangers and excitements. The dwellers on the lake 
shores showed themselves several times to be hostile. At one place they 
shouted to the boatmen to land, and rushed along the shore, slinging 
stones at the strangers, one of the missiles actually striking the craft. 

When night fell, and the crew disembarked to cook their supper and 
to sleep under the lee of a high crag, the natives came crowding around, 
telling them with a show of much friendliness to rest securely, as no one 
would harm them. The doctor was too old a bird to be caught by such 
chaff. The baggage was stowed on board, ready for a start, and a strict 
watch was kept. Well into the night, dusky forms were noticed dodging 
from rock to rock, and creeping up towards the fires; so, getting quietly on 



334 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

board, the party pulled out into the lake, and the skulking enemy rushed 
out upon the strand, howling furiously at being balked of their prey. 

Important Discovery. 

The first geographical surprise was met with a little beyortd the turn- 
ing-point of Burton and Speke. These latter investigators coasted the 
lake until, as they thought, they saw its two bounding ranges meet, and 
there they drew the extremity of Tanganyika, and returned. This ap- 
pearance, however, was found by Livingstone and Stanley to be caused 
by a high promontory which juts out from the western shore overlap- 
ping the mountains on the east. Beyond this narrow strait Tanganyika 
again opens up, and stretches on for sixty miles further, overhung by 
mountains rising to a height of seven thousand feet above sea-level, and 
some four thousand three hundred feet above the surface of the lake. 
At last the actual extremity of the long trough-like body of water came 
in view. 

As the voyagers approached it, they only became more puzzled as to 
what they should find. Two, days' sail from their destination they were 
po'^itively assured by the natives that the water flowed out of Tanganyika. 
Even when the limits of open water were reached in a broad marshy flat 
covered by aquatic plants, it was not easy to answer the question which 
the travellers had come all this long way to solve. Seven broad inlets 
were seen penetrating the bed of reeds. In none of them could any 
current be discovered. Entering the centre channel in a canoe, however, 
and pulling on for some distance past sedgy islands and between walls of 
papyrus, disturbing witl\ every stroke of the paddles some of the sleep- 
ing crocodiles that throng in hundreds in this marsh, all doubt as to the 
course of the Rusizi was soon removed. A strange current of discolored 
water was met pouring down from the high grounds, and further exami- 
nation showed that the stream had other channels losing themselves in 
the swamp, or finding their way into one or other of the inlets at the head 
of the lake. 

A Desperate Resolve. 

Their work in connection with the Rusizi done, our heroes returned to 
Ujiji, this time skirting along the western shores of the lake, and cross- 
ing it near a large island called Muzumi. Back again at Ujiji on the 
15 th December, Stanley did all in his power to persuade Livingstone 
to return home with him and recruit his strength; but the only answer 
he could obtain was, " Not till my work is done." In this resolution 
Livingstone tells us in his journal he was confirmed by a letter from his 
daughter Agnes, in which she said — "Much as I wish you to come 







(335) 



336 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

home, I would rather you finished your work to your own satisfaction 
than to return merely to gratify me," " I must complete the exploration 
of the Nile sources before I retire," says the devoted hero in another 
portion of his notes, little dreaming that he was all the time working not 
at them, but at those of the Congo. 

It was arranged, however, that Livingstone should accompany Stanley 
on his return journey as far as Unyanyembe, to fetch the goods there 
stored up for his use, and the start for the east was made late in Decem- 
ber, 1 87 1. Making a roundabout trip to the south to avoid the war still 
going on, the party reached Unyanyembe in February, 1872, after a good 
deal of suffering on Stanley's part from fever, and on Livingstone's from 
sore feet. 

In March, after giving all the stores he could spare to Livingstone, 

Stanley left for Zanzibar, accompanied for the first day's march by the 

veteran hero. 

The Last Conversation. 

Livingstone gave the earlier portion of the precious journal from 
which our narrative has been culled into the care of the young Ameri- 
can, and as they walked side by side, putting off the evil moment of 
parting as long as possible, the following interesting conversation, the 
last held by Livingstone in his own language, took place : — 

"Doctor," began Stanley, "so far as I can understand it, you do not 
intend to return home until you have satisfied yourself about the 
' Sources of the Nile.' When you have satisfied yourself, you will come 
home and satisfy others, fs it not so?" 

" That is it exactly. When your men come back " (Stanley was to 
hire men at Zanzibar to accompany Livingstone in his further journey) 
" I shall immediately start for Ufipa " (on the south-eastern shores of 
Lake Tanganyika) ; " then I shall strike south, and round the extremity 
of Lake Tanganyika. Then a south-east course will take me to Chik- 
umbi's, on" the Lualaba. On crossing the Lualaba, I shall go direct 
south-west to the copper mines of Katanga. Eight days south of Kat- 
anga the natives declare the fountains to be. When I have found them, 
I shall return by Katanga to the underground houses of Rua. From the 
caverns, ten days north-east will take me to Lake Komolondo. I shall 
be able to travel from the lake in your boat, up the river Lufira, to Lake 
Lincoln Then, coming down again, I can proceed north by the 
Lualaba to the fourth lake — which will, I think, explain the whole 
problem." 

"And how long do you think this little journey will take you ?" 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 337 

" A year and a-half at the furthest from the day I leave Unyanyembe." 

" Suppose you say two year§ ; contingencies might arise, you know. 
It will be well for me to hire these new men for two years, the day of 
their engagement to begin from their arrival at Unyanyembe." 

" Yes, that will do excellently well." 

Tlie Final Parting. 

" Now, my dear doctor, the best of friends must part. You have come 
far enough ; let me beg of you to turn back." 

" Well, 1 will say this to you, you have doncA^hat few men could do — 
far better than some great travellers I know, and I am grateful to you for 
what you have done for me. God guide you safe home, and bless you, 
my friend." 

"And may God bring you safe back to us all, my dear friend. Fare- 
well." 

A few more words of good wishes on either side, another and yet 
another clasp of the hand, and the two heroes parted, Stanley hurrying 
back with all possible speed to Zanzibar to despatch men and stores for 
the doctor to Unyanyembe, Livingstone to return to that town to await 
the means of beginning yet another journey to the west. 

It has long been well known that Stanley found the Royal Geographi- 
cal Society's Livingstone Search Expedition at Bagamoyo, and that its 
leader, Lieutenant Dawson, threw up his command on hearing of the 
success of his predecessor. With the aid of Mr. Oswell Livingstone, the 
son of the great explorer, the young American, however, quickly organ- 
ized a caravan, and saw it start for the interior on the 17th May. 
Somewhat later, the Royal Geographical Society sent out another 
exploring party, led by Lieutenant Grandy, with orders to ascend the 
Congo, to complete the survey of that stream, and at the same time to 
convey succor and comfort to the great traveller, who geographers 
already began to suspect was upon the upper waters of the Congo, and not 
of the Nile ; but this last expedition utterly failed of success. 
Livingstone's Last Letter. 

Not until long afterwards was the true sequel of Livingstone's sad and 
romantic history known in England. In his last letter, one to Mr. Well, 
Acting American Consul at Zanzibar, dated from Unyanyembe, July 2d, 
1872, he says, "I have been waiting up here like Simeon Sylites on his 
p. liar, and counting every day, and conjecturing each step taken by our 
friend towards the coast, wishing and praying that no sickness might lay 
him up, no accident befall, and no unlooked-for combinations of circum- 
stances render his kind intentions vain or fruitless." 

22 



338 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The remainder of our narrative is culled from the latter part of Living- 
stone's journal, brought to Zanzibar with his dead body by his men, and 
from the accounts of his faithful followers Susi and Chumah, as given in 
"Livingstone's Last Journals," edited by Dr. Horace Waller. From 
these combined sources, we learn that in June, just four months after the 
departure of Stanley, Sangara, one of his men, arrived at Unyanyembe 
with the news that the new caravan was at Ugogo, and that on the 14th 
August in the same year the men actually arrived. 

Livingstone's servants now numbered some sixty in all, and included 
the well-known John and Jacob Wainwright ; two highly-trained Nassick 
men, sent from Bombay to join Lieutenant Dawson, who, with their 
fellow-countrymen Mabruki and Gardner, enlisted in 1866; and Susi, 
Chumah, and Ambda, three of the men who joined Livingstone on the 
Zambesi in 1864, and now formed a kind of body-guard, protecting their 
master in every peril in life, and guarding his body in death with equally 
untiring devotion. 

TV^ithout Food Eight Days. 

On the 25th August, 1872, the start for the south-west was at last 
made, and after daily records in the journal of arduous ascents of moun- 
tains, weary tramps through flat forests, difficulties in obtaining food, in 
controlling men, etc., we come on the 19th September to a significant 
entry, to the effect that our hero's old enemy, dysentery, was upon him. 
He had eaten nothing for eight days, yet he pressed on without pause 
until the 8th October, when he sighted the eastern shores of Tangan- 
yika. Then ensued a halt of a couple of days, when, turning due south, 
the course led first along a range of hills overlooking the lake, and then 
across several bays in the mountainous district of Fipa, till late in Octo- 
ber a very large arm of Tanganyika was rounded. The lake was then 
left, and a detour made to the east, bringing the party in November to 
the important town known as Zombe's, built in such a manner that the 
river Halocheche, on its way to Tanganyika, runs right through it. 

At Zombe's a western course was resumed, and passing on through 
heavy rains, and over first one and then another tributary of the lake, our 
hero turned southwards, a little beyond the most southerly point of Tan- 
ganyika, to press on in the same direction, though again suffering terri- 
bly from dysentery, until November, when he once more set his face 
westwards, arriving in December on the banks of the Kalongosi river, a 
little to the east of the point at which he had sighted it on his flight 
northwards with the Arabs. 

In December what may be called the direct march to Lake Bangweolo 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 339 

was commenced, the difficulties of travelling now greatly aggravated by 
the continuous rain which had filled to overflowing the sponges, as 
Livingstone calls the damp and porous districts through which he had to 
pass. To quote from Dr. Waller's notes, "our hero's men speak of the 
march from this point" (the village of Moenje, left on the 9th January, 
1873) "as one continued plunge in and out of morass, and through rivers 
which were only distinguishable from the surrounding waters by their 
deep currents and the necessity of using canoes. To a man reduced in 
strength, and chronically affected with dysenteric symptoms," adds Dr. 
Waller, "the effect may well be conceived. It is probable that, had Dr. 
Livingstone been at the head of a hundred picked Europeans, every man 
of them would have been down in a fortnight." 

Under these circumstances we cannot too greatly admire the pluck of 
Livingstone's little body of men, for it must not be forgotten that Afri- 
cans have an intense horror of wet, and that those from the coast suffer 
almost as much as white men from the climate of the interior. 

Following the route, we find that he crossed no less than thirteen 
rivulets in rapid succession — more, in fact, than one a-c'ay. In January 
he notes that he is troubled for want of canoes, they being now indis- 
pensable to further progress, and that he is once more near the Cham- 
beze, the river which he had crossed far away on the north-east just 
before the loss of his medicine-chest and the beginning of his serious 
troubles. 

Wading- Through. Water Neck-Deep. 

No canoes were, however, forthcoming ; the natives were afraid of the 
white man, and would give him no help either with guides or boats. 
Nothing daunted even then, though his illness was growing upon him to 
such an extent that the entries in his journal are often barely legible, he 
pressed on, now wading through the water, now carried on the shoulders 
of one or another of his men. ' 

The following extract from the Journal, dated January 24th, will serve 
to give some notion of the kind of work done in the last few stages of 
this terrible journey : — " Went on east and north-east to avoid the deep pai t 
of a large river, which requires two canoes, but the men sent by the chief 
would certainly hide them. Went an hour-and-three-quarters' journey 
to a large stream through drizzling rain, at least 300 yards of deep water, 
amongst sedges and sponges of 100 yards. One part was neck deep for 
fifty yards, and the water was cold. We plunged in elephants' foot- 
prints one and a-half hours, then came in one hour to a small rivulet ten 
feet broad, but waist deep, bridge covered and broken down. 



340 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" Carrying me across one of the deep sedgy rivers is really a very 
difficult task; one we crossed was at least i,ooD feet broad, or more than 
300 yards. The first part the main stream came up to Susi's mouth. 
One held up my pistol behind, then one after another took a turn, and 
when he sank into a deep elephant's footprint he required two to lift him 
so as to gain a footing on the level, which was over waist deep. Others 
went on and bent down the grass so as to insure some footing on the side 
of the elephant's path. Every ten or twelve paces brought us to a clear 
stream, flowing fast in its own channel, while over all a strong current 
came bodily through all the rushes and aquatic plants. 

"It took us a full hour and a half for all to cross over. We had to 
hasten on the building of sheds after crossing the second rivulet, as rain 
threatened us. At four in the afternoon it came on pouring cold rain, 
when we were all under cover. We are anxious about food. The lake is 
near, but we are not sure of provisions. Our progress is distressingly 
slow. Wet, wet, wet, sloppy weather truly, and no observations, except 
that the land near the lake being very level, the rivers spread out into 
broad friths and sponges." 

Across the Ciiambeze at Last ! 

Thus wet, sick, and weary, often short of food and doubtful of his way, 
the indomitable hero still struggled on, his courage sustained by his 
hope of yet reaching the Chambeze, rounding the lake, and passing the 
confluence of the Lualaba on the west ; his heart cheered by the ever- 
increasing love of his men, ^especially of the seven already mentioned, 
who vied with each other in their eagerness to carry their dear master, 
to build the tent for his reception, to save for him the best of the provi- 
sions they were able to procure. 

The whole of February and the first half of the ensuii^iy month were 
consumed in wandering backwards and forwards amongst the swamps of 
the north-east shores of Bangweolo, but about the 20th March the 
camp was at last pitched on the left bank of the Chambeze, close to its 
entry of the lake, and the question of its connection with the Lualaba 
was to some extent solved. Late in March canoes were actually obtained, 
and, embarking in them, our explorer and his men paddled across the 
intervening swamps to the Chambeze, crossed a river flowing into it, and 
then the main stream itself, losing one slave girl by drowning in the 
process. 

Preparations were made for a further "land," or we wojjJd rather say 
wading journey, for though all the canoes, except a few reserved for the 
luggage, were left behind, the water was not. All went fairly well, how- 



LIVINGSTONES LAST JOURNEY. 341 

ever, in spite of the gigantic difficulties encountered, until the loth 
April, when, about midway in the journey along the western bank of the 
lake, Livingstone succumbed to a severe attack of his complaint, which 
left him, to quote his own words, " pale, bloodless, and weak from pro- 
fuse bleeding." 

Carried in a Litter. 

Surely now he would pause and turn back, that he might at least 
reach home to die! But no! he allowed himself but two days' rest, and 
then, staggering to his feet, though he owns he could hardly walk, he 
"tottered along nearly two hours, and then lay down, quite done. 
Cooked coffee," he adds — " our last — and went on, but in an hour I was 
compelled to lie down." 

Unwilling even then to be carried, he yielded at last to the expostula- 
tions of his men, and, reclining in a kind of litter suspended on a pole, 
he was gently borne along to the village of Chinama, and there, "in a 
garden of durra," the camp was pitched for the night. Beyond on the 
east stretched "interminable grassy prairies, with lines of trees occupying 
quarters of miles in breadth." On the west lay the lake connected with so 
many perils, but which Livingstone even yet hoped to round completely. 

Our hero was forried over the Lolotikila, was carried over land for a 
short distance to the south-west, the Lombatwa river was crossed, and, 
after a " tremendous rain, which burst all the now rotten tents to shreds," 
three sponges were crossed in rapid succession. Two days later Living- 
stone rallied sufficiently to mount a donkey, which, strange to say, had 
survived all the dangers of the journey from Unyanyembe, and came in 
sight of the Lavusi hills — a relief to the eye, he, tells us, after all the flat 

upland traversed. 

The Last Service. 

On the 20th April, which fell on a Sunday, the exhausted explorer 
held the last service with his men, crossed over a sponge to the village of 
a man named Moanzambamba, the head-man of these parts, noted in his 
journal that he felt excessively weak, and crossed the river Lokulu or 
Molikulu in a canoe. Next day the only words Livingstone was able to 
set down were, " Tried to ride, but was forced to lie down, and they carried 
me back to vil. exhausted." 

To quote from Dr. Waller, Livingstone's men explained this entry 
thus : — " This morning the doctor tried if he were strong enough to ride on 
the donkey, but he had only gone a short distance when he fell to the ground 
utterly exhausted and faint." Susi then unfastened his master's belt and 
pistol, and picked up his cap, which had fallen to the ground, whilst 



342 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



Chumah ran on to stop the men in fiont. When he came back he said, 
" Chumah, I have lost so much blood there is no more strength lefc in my 
legs; you must carry me." He was then lifted on to Chumah's back, 
and carried back to the village he had just left, but insisted on going on 
again the next day, though his men saw that he was sinking and began 
to fear he would not rally again. 

A litter was made of "two side pieces of wood seven feet in lengtli, 




AFRICAN HOUSES WITH THATCHED ROOFS. 

crossed with rails three feet long and about four inches apart, the whole 
lashed strongly together." Grass was spread over this rough bed, and a 
blanket laid over it. It was then slung from a pole, Livingstone was laid 
upon it, and two of his men carried him across a flooded grass plain to 
the next village, which was reached in about two hours and a half, the 
illustrious traveller suffering severely. 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 343 

Here a hut was built, and Livingstone rested for the night, if we can 
speak of rest when he was enduring the most terrible pain. On the 23d 
April the melancholy march was resumed, though our hero was too 
ill to make any entry but the date in his journal. His men report that 
they passed over just such a flooded treeless waste as on the previous day, 
seeing many small " fish-weirs set in such a manner as to catch the fish 
on their way back to the lake," but not a sign was to be seen of the inhab- 
itants of the country, who appear to have a great horror of the white 
man's caravan. 

Next day only one hour's march was accomplished, and a halt was 
made amongst some deserted huts. The doctor's suffering on this day 
was very great, and he once nearly fell out of the kitanda or litter, but 
was saved by Chum ah. 

The day following an hour's journey brought the party to a village 
containing a few people on the south of the lake , the doctor's litter was 
set down in a shady place, and" a few of the natives were persuaded to 
draw near and enter into conversation with him. They were asked 
whether they knew of a hill from which flowed four rivers, and their 
spokesman answered that they knew nothing about it, for they were -not 
travellers. All who used to go on trading expeditions, he added, were 
dead. Once Wabisa traders used to assemble in one of their villages, 
but the terrible Mazitu had come and swept them all away. The sur- 
vivors had to live as best they could amongst the swamps around the 
lake. 

Unfortunately, the conversation had not continued long before the 
doctor was too ill to go on talking, and he dismissed his visitors, with a 
request that they would send him ajs much food as they could spare to 
Kalunganjova's town on the west, which was to be the next stopping- 
place. 

As the litter was being carried from Kalunganjova, the chief himself 
came o.ut to meet the caravan, and escorted our hero into his settlement, 
situated on the banks of a stream called the LuHmala, Here, on the 
next day, April 27th, 1873, Livingstone, who for the three previous days 
had made no entry but the date in his journal, wrote his last words in 
characters scarcely legible : — " Knocked up quite, and remain — recover 
— sent to buy milch goats. We are on the banks of the Molilamo," in 
reality the same river as that given as the LuHmala in Livingstone's map, 
his men confirming the latter pronunciation. 

On the next day, Livingstone being now in an almost dying state, his 
men went off in various directions to try and obtain milch goats, but 



344 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

with no good results, Kalunganjova came to visit his P"uest and to offei 
every assistance in his power, promising to try and obtain canoes for 
crossing of the river — indeed to go himself with the caravan to the ferry, 
which was about an hour's march from the spot. "Everything," he said, 
" should be done for his friend." But alas ! this eager readiness to help, 
which would have been of incalculable service a few weeks before, was 
too late to be of any real use now. 

When all was ready for the start, and Susi went to tell Livingstone it 
was time for him to enter the litter, the doctor said he was too ill to walk 
to it, and the door of his hut being too narrow to admit of its passage to 
his bedside, the wall had to be broken down. When this was done, the 
litter was placed by the bedside, the dying hero was gently lifted on to it, 
and slowly and sadly borne out of the village. 

Life Fast Ebbing- Away. 

Following the course of the Lulimala till they came to a reach where 
the current was interrupted by numerous little islands, the party found 
Kalunganjova awaiting them on a little knoll, and under his superintend- 
ence the embarkation proceeded rapidly, whilst Livingstone, who was to 
be taken over when the rough work was done, rested on his litter in a 
shady place. 

The canoes not being wide enough to admit of the litter being laid in 
any one of them, it was now a difficult question how best to get the 
doctor across. Taking his bed off his litter, the men placed it in the 
strongest canoe and tried'to lift him on to it, but he " could not bear the 
pain of a hand being placed under his back." Making a sign to Chumah, 
our hero then faintly whispered a request to him " to stoop down over 
him as low as possible, so that he might clasp his hands together behind 
his head," at the same time begging him " to avoid putting any pressure 
on the lumbar region of the back." His wishes were tenderly carried 
out, and in this manner he was laid in the canoe, ferried over as rapidly 
as possibly, and once more placed in his litter on the other side. 

Susi now hastened on with several servants to the nextvillage, thenow 

celebrated Chitambo's, to superintend the building of a house for the 

reception of his beloved master, the rest of the party following more 

slowly, and bearing their precious charge "through swamps and plashes," 

till they came, to their great relief, to something " like a dry plain at 

last." 

The Last Stage. 

The strength of the great explorer was now ebbing rapidly away. 

Chumah, who helped to carry him on this the very last stage of his jour- 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 



345 



ney, says that lis and his comrades were every now and then " implored 
to stop and place their burden on the ground." Sometimes a drowsiness 
come over the suffbrer, and he seemed insensible to all that was going 
on ; sometimes he suffered terribly for want of water, of which, now that 

r 




CONVliVI.NG LIVINGSTONES BODY TO THE COAST, 

it was SO sorely needed, not a drop could be obtained, until, fortunately, 
they met a member of their party returning from Chitambo's, with a 
supply thoughtfully sent off by Susi. 

A little later, a clearing was reached, and Livingstone again begged to 
be set down and left alone, but at that very moment the first huts of Chit- 



346 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ambo's village came in sight, aid his bearers begged him to endure yet 
a little longer, that they might place him under shelter. 

Arrived at last at Chitambo's, the party found the house their fellow- 
servants were building still unfinished, and were therefore compelled to 
lay their master " under the broad eaves of a native hut " for a time. 
Though the village was then nearly empty, a number of natives soon col- 
lected about the litter, to gaze " in silent wonder upon hiin whose praises 
had reached them in previous years." 

When the house was ready, our hero's bed was placed inside it, " raised 
from the floor by sticks and grass ; " bales and boxes, one of the latter 
serving as a table, were arranged at one end ; a fire was lighted outside, 
nearly opposite the door ; and Livingstone was tenderly and reverently 
carried from his temporary resting-place to that which was to be his last. 
A boy named Majwara was appointed to sleep inside the house, to 
attend to the patient's wants. 

The Great Hero's Last Words. 

Chitambo came early in the morning to pay his respects to his guest, 
but Livingstone was too ill to attend to him, and begged him "to call 
again on the morrow, when he hoped to have more strength to talk to 
him." In the afternoon the doctor asked Susi to bring him his watch, 
and showed him how to hold it in the palm of his hand, whilst he himself 
moved the key. The rest of the day passed without incident, and in the 
evening the men not on duty silently repaired to their huts, whilst those 
whose turn it was to watcla sit round their fires, waiting for the end 
which they felt to be rapidly approaching. 

At about 1 1 p. M. Livingstone sent for Susi, and loud shouts being at 
the moment heard in the distance, said to him, "Are our men making 
that noise?" 

" No," replied Susi, adding that he believed it was only the natives 
scaring away a buffalo from their durra fields. A few minutes later, 
Livingstone said slowly, "Is this the Lualaba?" his mind evidently, 
wandering to the great river which had so long been the object of his 
search. "No," said Susi, "we are in Cliitambo's village, near the Luli- 
mala." 

A long silence ensued, and then the doctor said in Suaheli, an Arab 
dialect, " How many days is it to the Lualaba ? " and Susi answered in the 
same language, " I think it is three days, master." 

A few seconds later, Livingstone exclaimed, " Oh dear ! oh dear ! " as 
if in terrible suffering, and then fell asleep. Susi, who then left his 
master to his repose, was recalled in about an hour by Majwara, and on 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 347 

reaching the doctor's bedside received instructions to boil some water, 
for which purpose he went to the fire outside to fill his kettle. On his 
return, Livingstone told him to bring his medicine-chest and to hold the 
candle near him. These instructions being obeyed, he took out a bottle 
of calomel, told Susi to put it, an empty cup, and one with a little water 
in it, within reach of his hand, and then added in a very low voice, "All 
right; you can go out now." 

This was the last sentence ever spoken by Livingstone in human hear- 
ing. At about 4 A. M. Majwara came once more to call Susi, saying, 
" Come to Bwana (his name for Livingstone) ; I am afraid. I don't know 
if he is alive." 

A Martyr to a Great Cause. 

Susi, noticing the boy's terror, and fearing the worst, now aroused five 
of his comrades, and with them entered the doctor's hut, to find the great 
explorer kneeling, as if in prayer, by the side of his bed, " his head 
buried in his. hands upon the pillow." 

" For a minute," says Dr. Waller, "they watched him ; he did not stir; 
there was no sign of breathing; then one of them advanced softly to him 
and placed his hands to his cheeks." It was enough ; Livingstone was 
dead. He had probably expired soon after Susi left him, dying as he had 
lived, in quiet unostentatious reliance upon his divine Father. " History," 
says Banning, one of the members of the Brussels Conference, " contains 
few pages more touching, or of a more sublime character, than the simple 
narrative of this silent and solitary death of a great man, the martyr to a 
great cause." 

Thus ended the career of the greatest hero of modern geographical 
discovery, and of one of the noblest- hearted philanthropists of the present 
century. Very sadly, very tenderly, very reverently Livingstone's ser- 
vants laid .the corpse of their beloved master on his bed, and retired to 
consult sogether round their watch-fire as to'what should next be done. 

The following day it was unanimously decided that Susi and Chumah, 
who were " old men in travelling and in hardship," should act as captains 
of the caravan, the other men engaged promising faithfully to obey 
them. 

All agreed further that the body of Livingstone must be preserved 
and carried back to Zanzibar. With the ready go-operation of Chitambo, 
a strong hut, open to the air at the top, was built for the performance of 
the last melancholy offices. 

A native mourner was engaged to sing the usual dirge before the com- 
mencement of the post-mortem examination. Wearing the anklets 



348 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

proper to the occasion, "composed of rows of hollow seed-vessels, he 
sang the following chant, dancing all the while — 

" To day the Englishman is dead, 
Who has different hair from ours ; 
Come round to see the Englishman." 

After this concession to the customs of the people amongst whom they 
found themselves, Livingstone's faithful servants carried his remains to 
the hut prepared for them, where Jacob Wainwright read the burial ser- 
vice in the presence of all his comrades. The great hero's heart was 
removed and buried in a tin a little distance from the hut, and the body 
was "left to be fully exposed to the sun. No other means were taken to 
preserve it beyond placing some brandy in the mouth, and some on the 
hair." 

At the end of fourteen days, the body, thus simply " embalmed," was 
" wrapped round in some calico, the legs being bent inwards at the knees 
to shorten the package," which was placed in a cylinder ingeniously con- 
structed out of the bark of a tree. Over the whole a piece of sail-cloth 
was sewn, and the strange coffin was then securely lashed to a strong 
pole, so that it could be carried by the men in the manner figured in our 
illustration. 

Procession to the Coast. 

Under the superintendence of Jacob Wainwright, an inscription was 
carved on a large tree near the place where the body was exposed, giv- 
ing the name of the deceased hero and the date of his death. Chitambo 
promised to guard this memorial as a sacred charge, and the melancholy 
procession started on the return journey. 

Completing the circuit of Bangweolo, the men crossed the Lualaba 
near its entry into the lake on the west, thus supplementing their mas- 
ter's work, and, turning eastward beyond the great river which had so 
long been the goal of his efforts, they made for the route he had fol- 
lowed on his trip to the south in 1868. A short halt at Casembe's was 
succeeded by an uneventful trip eastwards to Lake Tanganyika, round- 
ing the southern extremity of which the funeral procession rapidly made 
its way in a north-easterly direction to Unyanyembe, where it arrived in 
the middle of October, 1873. 

Here Lieutenant Cameron, the leader, and Dr. Dillon and Lieutenant 
Murphy, members of a new Livingstone Relief Expedition sent out by 
the Royal Geographical Society, were resting before starting westwards. 
After the sad news of the doctor's death had been communicated to 
them and confirmed by indisputable evidence, Cameron did all in his 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY. 349 

power to help and relieve the brave fellows who had brought the hero's 
dead dody and all belonging to him thus far in safety. Then, finding 
them unwilling to surrender their charge before reaching the coast 
although he himself thought that Livingstone might have wished to be 
buiied in the same land as his wife, he allowed them to proceed, Dr. Dil- 
lon and Lieutenant Murphy accompanying them. 

Soon after the march to the coast began. Dr. Dillon, rendered deli- 
rious by his sufferings from fever and dysentery, shot himself in his tent, 
but Susi, Chumah, and their comrades arrived safely at Bagamoyo in 
February, 1874, where they delivered up their beloved master's remains 
to the Acting Lnglish Consul, Captain Prideaux, under whose care they 
were conveyed to Zanzibar in one of Her Majesty's cruisers, thence to be 
sent to England on board the Malwa, for interment in Westminster 
Abbey. 

To describe the stately funeral which was accorded to the simple- 
hearted hero in old Westminster Abbey would be beyond our province, 
but none who read the glowing newspaper accounts of the long proces- 
sion, the crowds of mourners, and the orations in honor of the deceased, 
can fail to have been touched by the contrast they offered to his lonely 
death in the wilderness, untended by any but the poor natives whose 
affections he had won by his gentleness and patience in the hardships 
and privations they had endured together, and to whom alone England 
is indebted for the privilege of numbering his grave amongst her sacred 
national possessions. 

The remains of the great African Explorer were laid to rest in West- 
minster Abbey on the i8th of April. The casket bore the inscription — 

DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

Born at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 

19 March, 1813, 

Died at Ilala, Central Africa, 

4 May, 1873. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 

Stanley's Absorbing Interest in Livingstone's Explorations — His Resolve 1o Find a 
Path from Sea to Sea — A Man of Remarkable Enterprise — Determined to Accom- 
plish His Object at Any Cost — Description of the Congo Region— Once the Most 
Famous Kingdom of Africa — A King Glorious in Trinkets — People Prostrating 
Themselves Before Their Monarch — The Whims of a Despot — Taxes Levied on 
Furniture — Killing Husbands to Get Their Wives — Strange and Savage Cus- 
toms — Messengers Collecting Slaves and Ivory— A Nation Famous as Elephant 
Hunters and Men Stealers— Worship of a Wicked Deity — Priests with Absolute 
Power — Sacred Fire Burning Continually — A Priest so Holy That He Cannot Die 
a Natural Death — Test of Red Hot Iron Applied to the Skin — How the Congoese 
Disfigure Themselves — Outlandish Dress — Husbands Rebuked for Neglecting to 
Beat Their Wives— Pipes and Palm- Wine — A Notorious Queen— Followed by a 
Host of Lovers — Horrible Practices — Slaughter of Male Children — The Queen's 
Tragic End — Queen Shmga and Her Daring Exploits— Female Demon— Univer.-al 
Polygamy— Eating Habits of the Congo Tribes — Agonies c f Indigestion — Singular 
Modes of Salutation — Stanley's Description of Welcoming Strangers — Love for 
Titles and Soundnig Names— How Wives Manage Husbands — Famous Old King 
of the Gaboon — King William's Principal Wife — A Monarch Arrayed in Scarlet — 
Ferocious Tribes — Traders and Their Wares — Stanley's Description of the Coun- 
try-^Superstilions and Paganism — Animal Life in Congo — Antelopes, Zebras and 
Buffaloes — Beautiful Monkey Tribe — Wild Attack of Cannibals — Immense War- 
Boat — Everlasting Din of jDrums — Horns Carved out of Elephants' Tusks— Wild 
War Cry — Singular Temple of Ivory — Horrid Monument of Mud and Skulls. 

'ENR.Y M. STANLEY was not the man to be indifferent to the 
fate of Livingstone or the objects he had in view. Our young 
hero thought, and the world thought so too, that his mission 
was to complete, as far as possible, the marvellous discoveries 
which Livingstone had attempted to make. If his life had been spared 
he would hdve crowned all previous successes with triumphs greater 
still. Stanley having been once in the wilds of Africa, and having learned 
by actual observation the great fertility of the soil, the channels of com- 
merce which might be opened, the importance of bringing the country 
into close relations with other parts of the world, the moral needs of the 
savage races whose history has been lost in oblivion and whose future it is 
impossible as yet to determine, thought he would discover, if possible, 
the sources of the Nile, open new avenues in a land almost unknown, 
and, having found Livingstone, the lost explorer, he resolved to find a 
path from sea to sea. 
(350) 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. S51 

In this marvellous undertaking we are now to trace him. He is the 
same strong, heroic soul that he was on his first expedition ; the same 
enterprising man, possessed of the same iron will, the same abounding 
energy and perseverance, the same tact in dealing with hostile tribes, and 
the same unswerving resolution to accornplish his object at any cost. 

Before we begin his journey, it will be interesting to the reader to ha\ e 
some account of the Congo region through which Stanley passed, and also 
a description of the Congoese, the people dwelling in that part of Africa. 

At one time there was no more famous kingdom in all Africa than that 
of Congo. It was established on even a grander scale than the modern 
Ashanti or Dahomey, which have sprung up within the last 200 years, 
during which the empire of Congo has been broken up into many petty 
chieftaincies. The writings of the old Jesuit and Capuchin Fathers teem 
with tales of its grandeur. 

When the king was elected he came out of the palace, glorious in 
trinkets, to give the benediction to his people, assembled from far and 
near in the palace square, for this important event. The priests and 
nobles arranged themselves around him. The king exhorted the people 
to be faithful and obedient, and, after the manner of monarchs generally, 
assured his subjects of his profound consideration. " He rises, and all 
the people prostrate themselves before hmi. He stretches his hands over 
them, and makes gestures with his fingers without uttering a Word." 
Shouts of joy, followed by firing of muskets and a "jubilee of banquets," 
close this initiatory event of the Congo monarch's reign. 

Wliims of a Tyrant. 

The king was a despot, secretly controlled by his ministers. His civil 
list consisted of tribyte paid him by the sub-chiefs or vassal -lords, who in 
their turn ground it out of the people. When he found it necessary to 
levy a special tax, he would go out of thfe palace with his cap loosely 
placed on his head. When the wind blew it off, he would rush into the 
house as if in a great passion, and immediately order the levy of goats, 
fowls, slaves, and palm-wine. The Negro is a systematic creature in 
some things; he does nothing without a reason, and the Congoese 
monarch, therefore, considered that he had justified his acts in the eyes 
of his subjects by his dignity being offended owing to his cap blowing off. 

One of the taxes was levied on beds — a slave for every span's breadth 
being the rate at which the impost was made. This tax was devoted to 
the support of the king's concubines, and as a broad bed entailed consid- 
erable expense on its owner, the possession of this piece of chamber fur- 
niture was in Congo looked upon as the sign of a man of wealth. Writers 



352 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

describe the Muata-Yanvo — another powerful West African monarch, 
very little known to literature — as wearing a bracelet of human sinews 
on his left wrist, to denote his royal rank. His empire is as large as all 
Germany, and about three hundred chiefs owe him allegiance, though 
his subjects do not number more than two millions, and his despotism is 
shared and tempered by a queen. 

When the king desired a fresh companion, a married woman was 
selected, her husband and the lovers whom she confessed to (for it seems 
they all had them, married or single) being put to death. These little 
preliminaries being completed, she entered the royal seraglio, where much 
more liberty than would be granted in Mohammedan kingdoms was 
allowed to her. On the king's death all his wives were buried with him. 

Peculiar Customs. 

No man dare see the king eat or drink. All this must be done in 
privacy. If a dog even entered the house while the august sovereign 
was at food it was killed ; and a case is recorded by English authorities 
in which the king ordered the execution of his own son, who had acci- 
dently seen him drink palm-wine. 

The large army supported by the Congoese monarch was officered by 
their own chiefs, and apparently fought under a kind of feudal system. 

As in most parts of Africa, the old Congo kings, before the decay of 
the slave trade ruined them, monopolized, as far as they could, the com- 
merce of the country. This is still the fashion of the Muata-Yanvo of 
the Kanoko Empire, east of the Congo country. When traders arrive at 
the capital, their goods are deposited in the capital until the king's mes- 
sengers,who are sent into the neighboring countries, can collect the slaves 
and ivory he is willing to give in exchange. 

No stranger is allowed to proceed into these interior regions, the 
inhabitants of which are described as cannibals, or as dwarfs. When Dr. 
Buchner was at the Muato-Yanvo's in 1 879 he was threatened by the 
Kioko, a nation famous as smiths, elephant hunters, and man stealers, 
who are gradually spreading from the Upper Quango to the northward, 
and from the latest accounts are endangering the very existence of this 
secluded empire. 

The civil judges sat under trees, each having a large staff in his hand, 
as an insignium of office. Incorruptible they were not, but still no one 
ever appealed against their decisions, and it is said never even com- 
plained of their injustice; but this is not in human nature, and must only 
mean that no one was ever heard to do so in public, and that for very 
special private reasons of his own. 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 353 

As in more civilized nations, war is the great parent of taxation, the 
Icing being obliged to maintain a large standing army, and to keep it in 
good humor by constant largesses, for a large standing army is much 
like fire — a useful servant, but a terrible master. The army is divided 
into regiments, each acting under the immediate command of the chief 
in whose district they live, and they are armed, in a most miscellaneous 
fashion, with any weapons they can procure. In these times the trade 
guns are the most valued weapons, but the native swords, bows and 
arrows, spears, and knives, still form the staple of their equipment. As 
to uniform, they have no idea of it, and do not even distinguish the men 
of the different regiments, as do the Kaffirs of Southern Africa. 

The ancient religion of the Congo Negro is simply polytheism, which 
they have suffered to degenerate into fetishism. There is one jnonothe- 
istic sect, but they have gained very little by their religion, which is in 
fact merely a negation of many deities, without the least understanding 
of the one whom they profess to worship — a deity to whom they attri- 
bute the worst vices that can degrade human nature. 

Shrewd Tricks to Get Kid. of Husbands. 

The fetish men or priests are as important here as the marabouts 
among the Mandingoes, and the chief of them, who goes by the name 
of Chitome, is scarcely less honored than the king, who finds himself 
obliged to seek the favor of this spiritual potentate, while the common * 
people look on him as scarcely less than a god. He is maintained by a 
sort of tithe, consisting of the first-fruits of the harvest, which are 
brought to him with great ceremony, and are offered with solemn chants. 
The Congo men fully believe that if they were to omit the first-fruits of 
one year's harvest, the next year would be an unproductive one. 

A sacred fire burns continually in his house, and the embers, Avhich are 
supposed to be possessed of great medicinal virtues, are sold by him at a 
high price, so that even his fire is a constant source of income to him. 
He has the entire regulation of the minor priests, and every now and 
then makes a progress among them to settle the disputes which contin- 
ually spring up. As soon as he leaves his house, the husbands and wives 
throughout the kingdom are obliged to separate under pain of death. In 
case of disobedience, the man only is punished, and cases have been 
known where wives who disliked their husbands have accused them of 
breaking this strange law, and have thereby gained a double advantage, 
freed themselves from a man whom they did not like, and established a 
religious reputation on easy terms. 

In fact, the Chitome has things entirely his own way, with one excep- 

23 



354 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

tion. He is so holy that he cannot die a natural death, for if he did so 
the universe would immediately be dissolved. Consequently, as soon as 
he is seized with a dangerous illness, the Chitome elect calls at his house, 
and saves the universe by knocking out his brains with a club, or strang- 
ling him with a cord if he should prefer it. That his own death must be 
of a similar character has no effect upon the new Chitome, who, true to 
the Negro character, thinks only of the present time, and, so far as being 
anxious about the evils that will happen at some future time, does not 
trouble himself even about the next day. 

Next to the Chitome comes the Nghombo, a priest who is distin- 
guished by his peculiar gait. His dignity would be impaired by walking 
like ordinary mortals, or even like the inferior priests, and so he always 
walks on his hands with his feet in the air, thereby striking awe into the 
laity. Some of the priests are rain-makers, who perform the duties of 
their office by building little mounds of earth and making fetish over 
them. From the centre of each charmed mound rises a strange insect^ 
which mounts into the sky, and brings as much rain as the people have 
paid for. These priests are regularly instituted, but there are some who 
are born to the office, such as dwarfs, hunchbacks, and albinos, all of 
whom are highly honored as specially favored individuals, consecrated to 
the priesthood by Nature herself 

Poison and Red-liot Iron. 

The priests have, as usual, a system of ordeal, the commonest mode 
being the drinking of the poison cup, and the rarest the test of the red- 
hot iron, which is applied \o the skin of the accused, and burns him if he 
be guilty. There is no doubt that the magicians are acquainted with, 
some preparation which renders the skin proof against a brief applica- 
tion of hot iron, and that they previously apply it to an accused person 
who will pay for it. 

The Chitome has the privilege of conducting the coronation of a king.. 
The new ruler proceeds to the house of the Chitome, attended by a host 
of his future subjects, who utter piercing yells as he goes. Having 
reached the sacred house, he kneels before the door, and asks the Chi- 
tome to be gracious to him. The Chitome growls out a flat refusal from 
within. The king renews his supplications, in spite of repeated rebuffs, 
enumerating all the presents which he has brought to the Chitome — 
which presents, by the way, are easily made, as he will extort an equal 
amount from his subjects as soon as he is fairly installed. 

At last, the door of the hut opens, and out comes the Chitome in his- 
white robe of office, his head covered with feathers, and a shining mir— 



»>\ 






^1 




THE GIRAFFE OR CAMEIOPARD. 



(355) 



356 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ror on his breast. The king Hes prostrate before the house, while the 
Chitome pours water on him, scatters dust over him, and sets his feet on 
him. He then Hes flat on the prostrate monarch, and in that position 
receives from him a promise to respect his authority ever afterward. The 
king is then proclaimed, and retires to wash and change his clothes. 
A King in Gorgeous Apparel. 

Presently he comes out of the palace, attended by his priests and 
nobles, and gorgeous in all the bravery of his new rank, his whole person 
covered with glittering ornaments of metal, glass, and stone, so that the 
eye can scarcely bear the rays that flash on every side as he moves in 
the sunbeams. He then seats himself, and makes a speech to the people. 
When it is finished, he rises, while all the people crouch to the ground, 
stretches his hands over them, and makes certain prescribed gestures, 
which are considered as the royal benediction. A long series of ban- 
quets and revelry ends the proceedings. 

At the present day, the Congo king and great men disfigure themselves 
with European clothing, such as silk jackets, velvet shoes, damask coats, 
and broad-brimmed hats. But^ in the former times, they dressed becom- 
ingly in native attire. A simple tunic made of very fine grass cloth, and 
leaving the right arm bare, covered the upper part of the body, while a 
sort of petticoat, made of similar material, but dyed black, was tied 
round the waist, and an apron, or " sporran," of leopard skin, was fas- 
tened to the girdle and hung in front. On their heads they wore a sort 
of hood, and sometimes f)referred a square red and yellow cap. Sandals 
made of the palm tree were the peculiar privilege of the king and nobles, 
the common people being obliged to go bare-footed. 

Wives TVlio Receive Vigorous Attention. 

The wives in Congo are tolerably well off, except that they are severely 
beaten with the heavy hippopotamus-hide whip. The women do not 
resent this treatment, and indeed, unless a woman is soundly flogged 
occasionally, she thinks that her husband is neglecting her, and feels 
offended accordingly. The king has the power of taking any woman 
for his wife, whether married or not, and, when she goes to the royal 
harem, her husband is judiciously executed. 

The people of Congo are — probably on account of the enervating cli- 
mate — a very indolent and lethargic race, the women being made to do all 
the work, while the men lie in the shade and smoke their pipes and drink 
their palm-wine, which they make remarkably well, though not so well 
as the Bube tribe of Fernando Po. Their houses are merely huts of the 
simplest description ; a few posts with a roof over them, and twigs woven 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 357 

between them in wicker-work fashion by way of walls, are all that a 
Congo man cares for in a house. His clothing is as simple as his lodg- 
ing, a piece of native cloth, tied round his middle being all that he cares 
for; so that the ample clothes and handsome furs worn by the king jnust 
have had a very strong effect on the almost naked populace. 

The Jag.as are a race now settled in Cassange country, into which they 
seem originally to have entered as marauders or conquerors. In the 
early state of the kingdom they were ruled by Tembandumba — a queen 
whose excesses, if not exaggerated in the narrative, seem demoniacal in 
their extent. She soon, by her exploits in war, made herself feared and 
respected by enemies and subjects ; but so terrible were her cruelties and 
tyranny, that only the awe in which she was held prevented her subjects 
rebelling. She had a host of lovers, all of Avhom, one after the other, 
she killed with the most cruel tortures as soon as she had tired of them. 
Breaking loose from all her relatives — who had ventured to remonstrate 
with her — she founded a constitution which only a woman, and one will- 
ing to proceed to those extremes of which the sex is capable, could have 
imagined. 

Horrible Practices. 

" She would turn," writes Mr. Winwood Reade, " the world into a wil- 
derness ; she would kill all living animals ; she would burn all forests, 
grass, and vegetable food. The sustenance of her subjects should be the 
flesh of man ; his blood should be their drink. She commanded all male 
children, all twins, and all infants whose upper teeth appeared before their 
lower ones, should be killed by their own mothers. From their bodies 
an ointment should be made, in the way she would show. The female 
children should be reared, and instructed in war ; and male prisoners, 
before being killed and eaten, should be used for the purpose of pro- 
creation. 

" Having concluded her harangue, with the publication of other laws of 
minor importance, this young women seized her child, which was feeding 
at her breast, flung him into a mortar, and pounded him to a pulp. She 
flung this into a large earthen pot, adding roots, leaves, and oils, and 
made the whole into an ointment, with which she rubbed herself before 
them all, telling them that this would render her invulnerable, and that 
now she could subdue the universe. Immediately, her subjects, seized 
with a savage enthusiasm, massacred all their male children, and immense 
quantities of this human ointment were made ; and of which, they say, 
some is still preserved among the Jagas." 

An empire of Amazons was apparently contemplated. Not only were 



358 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

male children to be massacred, but women's flesh was forbidden to be 
eaten. But she soon found it impossible to battle against nature. 
Mothers concealed their male infants ; and though officers were appointed 
to be present at every birth to see that the law was carried out, yet, after 
a time, she found it necessary to order that the invulnerable ointment 
might be made of the bodies of infants captured in war. Whole terri- 
tories were conquered and laid waste ; and disaffection in her own army 
she kept down by having the forces continually employed. 
The Queen's Tragic End. 

As age grew upon her she grew- worse and worse — more cruel to her 
victims ; more abominable in all her dealings with her subjects. At last 
she was subdued. Falling desparately in love with a private soldier in 
her army, she publicly married him, and gave him half her throne and 
kingdom. As last she grew tired of him, as she had grown tired of a 
hundred before. But she had met her match. Calming, cajoling, and 
flattering his terrible queen, the king-consort managed for a time to post- 
pone his inevitable fate — to be fondled to-day, to be dined off to-morrow. 
One day he entertained her at dinner with all the choice viands which 
the kingdom of Congo or the young Portuguese colonies on the Coast 
could supply. Her drink had been poisoned. Her husband was saved, 
and the kingdom freed from a tyrant, whose rule was beginning to be too 
heavy to bear. Yet he was never suspected ; or perhaps his act was of 
too meritorious a character to be taken notice of So, after much wail- 
ing over her funeral — as subjects will wail over kings, no matter how vile 
— Tembandumba slept with her fathers ; and Culemba, her affectionate 
husband, reigned in her stead. 

Blood-curdling tales are told of the excesses of some of the old sov- 
ereigns. For instance, Shinga was the name of the Negro queen who 
came to power in the year 1640, but, through the intrigues of the Jesuit 
priests, to whose rites she did not choose to submit, was forced to fly the 
kingdom, after contending with her nephew in three pitched battles, 
which she lost. In 1646 she regained her kingdom, after many vicissi- 
tudes of fortune. But by this time Queen Shinga had got so accustomed 
to war, that she cared for nothing else. Her life was spent in hostilities 
against the neighboring kingdoms. 

A Female Demon. 

Before she undertook any new enterprise, she would sacrifice the 
handsomest man she could find. Clad in skins, with a sword hanging 
round her neck, an axe at her side, and bow and arrow in her hand, she 
would dance and sing, striking two iron bells. Then taking a feather 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 359 

she would put it through the holes in her nose, as a sign of war, would 
cut off the victim's head with her sword, and drink a deep draught of 
his blood. She had fifty or sixty male favorites ; and while she always 
dressed herself as a man, they were compelled to take the names and 
garments of women. If one of them denied that he was a woman he 
was immediately killed. The queen, however, was charitable enough to 
let them belie their words by their actions. They might have as many 
wives as they chose ; but if a child was born, the husband was com- 
pelled to kill it with his own hands. 

Shinga obtained great power over her subjects. She, however, was 
wise in her generation, and, after she had fought the Portuguese, and 
been beaten by them, she concluded an humble peace, and retained her 
kingdom in safety. 

At the present time the Congo kingdom has fallen from its high 
estate. The people are lethargic, and altogether given over to palm-wine 
and tobacco ; their houses are huts of grass fibres or palm leaves, and 
their clothing a piece of native cloth round the middle. Their domestic 
utensils are on a par with this primitive barbarism. Baskets made of the 
fibre of the palm-tree, bowls of gourds, earthen vessels for boiling, 
wooden spoons, and beds of grass on a raised platform are about the 
only furniture of their simple huts. Whatever magnificence once existed 
is now almost gone. 

Universal Polygamy. 

Though Portuguese, and latterly English, missions have been estab- 
lished among these tribes, fetishism is still to a great extent the prevail- 
ing semblance of worship, the Cross being regarded simply as new fetish 
introduced by the powerful white man. Polygamy is universal, and the 
marriage ceremony little more than buying the wife from her parents, 
and giving a feast to her family and friends. But if the nuptial rites are 
brief and simple, their sepulchral ceremonies are more elaborate, for fre- 
quently, in order to admit of all the relatives being present, the interment 
of the deceased will be delayed several months. The dead are frequently 
desiccated by roasting, and then buried in the huts which they occupied 
during life. 

Of late years the natives of the Congo have received renewed atten- 
tion. Expeditions have often been despatched a little up the river for the 
purpose of trade and exploration, or in order to punish the Mussurongo 
pirates, who have frequently attacked the vessels engaged in carrying 
goods to or from the " factories " established below the Yellala Falls. 
However, since Mr. Stanley succeeded in proving that the river commu- 



360 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

nicated with the Tanganyika lake, and is the noblest water-way to the 
interior, numerous traders have settled on its lower reaches, and the 
posts of the International Association, presided over by the King of the 
Belgians, are pushing civilization and commerce towards its upper waters. 
Before leaving the customs of the Congoese, we must notice that the 
eating habits of some of the Congo tribes are very curious. They are, 
like all the Negro races, enormous feeders, as many as 300 oxen having 
been known to be killed and eaten when a " soba" or chief of the Mun- 
dombes, dies, the feast lasting for several days, the gluttons often rolling 
on the ground in the agonies of indigestion, but only to rise again and 
resume eating, abstaining meanwhile from drink, lest it should prevent 
them from finding room for the solids. Among some of the natives a 
singular custom prevails. It consists in offering a visitor a dish of 
" infundi," or " pirao," and should there not be a bit of meat in the 
larder, they send out to a neighbor for " lent rat," as it is called. This 
Mr. Monteiro describes as a field rat roasted on a skewer, and which is 
presented to the guest, who, holding the skewer in his left hand, dabs bits 
of " infundi " on the rat before he swallows them, as if to give them a 
flavor, but he is very careful not to eat the rat, or even the smallest por- 
tion of it, as that would be considered a great crime and offence, and 
would be severely punished by their laws. It is supposed that the host 
has by this hospitality duly preserved the dignity of his house and posi- 
tion, the entire sham being a curious instance of elaborate politeness 
without sincerity existing,among a race which might reasonably be sup- 
posed unsophisticated. 

Singular Salutations. 

The subject of salutations would afford a theme for many chapters^ 
For example, when two Monbuttoos of the far Nile tributaries meet they 
join the right hands, and say, " Gassigy," at the same time cracking the 
joints of the middle fingers, while in Uguha, on the western side of Lake 
Tanganyika, Mr. Stanley describes the people saluting each other as 
follows : — A man appears before a party seated ; he bends, takes up a 
bundle of earth or sand with his right hand, and throws a little into his 
left. The left hand rubs the sand or earth over the right elbow and the 
right side of the stomach, while the right hand performs the same opera- 
tion for the left part of the body, words of salutation being rapidly uttered 
in the meanwhile. To his inferiors, however, the new-comer slaps his 
hand several times, and after each slap lightly taps the region of the 
heart. 

In like manner, the modes of taking an oath are so very extensive that 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 



361 



a large space could very profitably be devoted to this interesting phase 
of African life. In many tribes on the West Coast the common way 
among blacks to affirm the truth of a statement is, according to Monteiro^ 



^:;.n;"«vnf-. 




YOUNG "FETISH MAN OF THE CONGO DISTRICT. 



to go on their knees, and rub the forefinger of each hand on the ground, 
and then touch their tongues and foreheads with the dusty tips. About 
Loanda, they make the sign of the Cross on the ground with a finger, for 



362 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the same purpose ; but this is evidently a remnant of- old missionary 
teaching. 

Titles — the love for them, and the endless variety of designations in- 
tended to express dignity — might equally be enlarged on, without the 
subject being at all exhausted, while the multiplicity of fashions adopted 
in dressing their woolly hair, filing their teeth, splitting their ears, or 
generally improving upon nature, will be touched, as far as so extensive 
a theme admits of, in the chapters which follow. We may, however, 
note in this place a few singular customs, which give a better idea of 
African characteristics than more labored analyses of their mental traits. 
How Wives Manage Husbands. 

One custom said to be universal in Oriental Africa is that of a woman 
tying a knot in anyone's turban, thereby placing herself under his pro- 
tection in order to be revenged upon her husband, who may have beaten 
her for some offence. In due time, when the husband comes to claim 
her, he is compelled to pay a ransom, and to promise, in the presence of 
his chief, never again to maltreat her. In nearly every village in Unyam- 
wesi there are two or three public-houses, or perhaps they might be 
called clubs. One is appropriated to the women, and another to the 
men, though at the one frequented by the men all travellers of distinction 
are welcomed by the chiefs and elders. As soon as a boy attains the 
age of seven or eight years, he throws off the authority of his mother, 
and passes most of his time at the club, usually eating and often sleeping 
there. On the death of a Wagogo chief, the son is supposed to look 
upon his father's eldest surviving brother as his new and adopted father, 
but only in private and not in public affairs. 

There is another point connected with the black races of Africa to 
which a few lines may be devoted. The hair of most Africans — and 
universally of the Negro and Negroid tribes — is short, inclined to split 
longitudinally, and much crimped. In South Africa the Hottentot's hair 
is more matted into tufts than that of the Kaffir, while it is not uncom- 
mon to find long hair, and even considerable beards, among some of the 
tribes inhabiting the central plateau of the continent. Black is the almost 
universal color of their hair. In old age it becomes white ; but accord- 
ing to Walker there are cases among the Negroes of the Gaboon in 
which red hair, red eyebrows and eyes are not uncommon, and Schwein- 
furth speaks of Monbuttoos with ashy fair hair, and skin much fairer 
than that of their fellow-tribesmen. 

It may also be mentioned that individuals with reddish hair are by no 
means rarely seen among the mountaineers of the Atlas. Whiskers are 




(363) 



364 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

rare, though not unknown, and long beards are said to be found among 
Niam-niam, and among the papers left by Miani, the unfortunate Italian 
traveller, there is a notice of a man with a beard half as long as his own, 
which. Dr. Schweinfurth remarks, was of " a remarkable length." The 
color of the Negro's skin passes through every gradation from ebony 
black to the copper color. 

Famous King' and Queen. 

Speaking of the Gaboon, we must notice the celebrated king who 
ruled many years in that region, and possessed many traits in common 
with the savage tribes around him. A traveller makes the following 
reference to him : 

" When I was up this river a few years since, an aged king was then 
reigning, whom the English called King William and the French Roi 
Denis ; a somewhat remarkable character in his way. He had made a 
voyage to Europe, but his contact with civilization had no effect upon his 
manner of life, his liking for rum, and plurality of wives. At one time he 
derived large revenue from the slave trade, the Gaboon being the river 
from the mouth of which the slaves were embarked for the English^ 
French and American colonies ; but when the trade was checked his 
income decreased very much, and his riches then seem to have con- 
sisted of an amazing number of suits of clothes, old uniforms, gaily deco- 
rated coats, and other fanciful .attire, with which he decked his black 
person. When I saw him with his principal wife he was most gorgeously 
arrayed in a scarlet coat "vyith an epaulet on each shoulder, and the breast 
elaborately braided; a medal was swung around his neck, and in his 
hand he held a cane. That was the only time I ever saw him." 

The tribes on the banks of the Congo are of the most ferocious descrip- 
tion, and treacherous beyond anything with which African travellers 
have hitherto had much experience. Mr. Stanley, with a kindly enthusi- 
asm fully appreciated, proposed to call the river the Livingstone. But as 
this would have been an innovation on all the established rules of geo- 
graphical names, it has not been adopted. 

The country on either side of the Congo is remarkably different. 
North of it are lagoons and swamps covere^d with the sickly mangrove 
and backed by dense forests. South of the great river we come into a 
country covered with coarse grass, and scattered with occasional baobab- 
trees, while little forest can be seen from the ocean ; and inside of feverish 
lagoons we have long stretches of sandy, bays, such as prevail on to the 
Cape of Good Hope. But as we travel back from the shore the country 
rises terrace, by terrace, with corresponding changes of vegetation, the 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 365 

climate getting moister as the more densely-clothed interior is ap-' 
proached, until on the third and highest terrace great plains, covered with 
gigantic grasses, make their appearance. 

Traders and Tlieir Wares. 

At the mouth of the river there are several foreign trading stations, or 
factories, established on a sandy strip of coast, called Banana. Some 
forty-five miles further up are the stations of Punta da Lenha (Wooded 
Point) ; and at Em-bomma, or as the traders call it, Bomma, sixty miles 
from the mouth of the river, there are the highest of all the foreign settle- 
ments. Here are Portuguese, English, French, Dutch, and St. Helena 
traders. The neighboring country is singularly sterile. According to Mr, 
Stanley, it is bleak in the extreme. " Shingly rocks strewed the path 
and the waste, and the thin sere grass waved mournfully on level 
and spine, on slope of ridge and crest of hill ; in the hollows it was some- 
what thicker ; in the bottoms it had a slight tinge of green." 

The six factories at Bomma are all constructed of wooden boards, 
roofed in the generality of cases with corrugated zinc. Business is trans- 
acted in the ample court-yard attached to each factory. This consists in 
bartering calico, glass-ware, crockery, iron-ware, gin, rum, arms, and gun- 
powder, for palm-oil, ground-nuts and ivory. The merchants live toler- 
ably comfortably. Some of them have fruit and garden vegetables, and 
little vineyards, while pineapples and limes may be obtained from the 
market, which is held on alternate days behind the European settlement. 

In earlier times Bomma was a great seat of the slave trade ; and to 
this day Tuckey's description of the people, though written more than 
half a century ago, is still perfectly applicable. They are as rude, super- 
stitious, and pagan as ever they were, the efforts of the missionaries 
having as yet scarcely impressed the solid mass of primeval barbarism. 
They still distrust strangers as much as ever, are still as intolerant of any 
innovation in their customs, and their lust after rum and idleness is as 
marked to-day as half a century ago. It may be added that were slaves 
salable the Congoese would not be wanting in alacrity in obtaining them, 
and we may be perfectly certain that barracoons for their reception, and 
smart skippers for their shipment, would speedily reappear on the scene 
of the old — though it is affirmed, so far as the Portuguese and Spanish 
isles and colonies are concerned, not altogether extinct — traffic. 

In early days the Congo country extended far south of the river, and 
in the capital of the then kingdom the Jesuits resided and reared a cathe- 
dral, the remains of which still exist, and owing to the priestly influence 
obtained great power throughout the country. The monarch was often 



366 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



ruled by females, the tales of whose ferocity were stock subjects for the 
early chroniclers. The empire of Congo is, however, now a something of 
the past, though in the neigborhood of Ambassi the nominal king still 
exercises sufficient control over the people to be able to annoy the cara- 
vans passing to and from the interior ; but a score of local chieftains have 
as much authority as he. 

Though the Portuguese claim the coast from a point considerably north 
of the Congo, they have never actually occupied it north of eight degrees 
of south latitude ; and here the reader must note that we are getting 




GUEREZA WITH BEAUTIFUL FLYING MANTLE. 

south of the equator. The elephant is not now met with in the maritime 
region, but in the less populous regions antelopes, zebras, buffalos — not, 
it need scarcely be remarked, the American bison, which is popularly 
known by that name — hyaenas, jackals, leopards, and the monkey. 

As for the monkey tribe, a description of the guereza must suffice. 
The general color of this monkey is black. The sides of the body and 
top of the loins are ornamented with long, pendant, white hairs, forming 
a fringe-like mantle. The face is encircled by white, and the tail ends in 
a white tuft. The guereza lives, according to Riippell, in small families, 
tenanting the lofty trees in the neighborhood of running waters. It is 




(367) 



368 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

active and lively, and at the same time gentle and inoffensive. It is the 
prettiest of all the monkeys, and our illustration gives an idea of its 
striking appearance. It is an excellent climber. Formerly the skin of 
the guereza was used by the natives for decorating their shields, but with 
the introduction of fire-arms the demands for shields and for this coveted 
decoration ceased, and this is undoubtedly a fact to be glad of, because 
there exists no more instigation to hunt this beautiful and entirely harm- 
less animal. 

It has the head, face and neck, back, limbs and part of tail covered 
with short, black velvety hair, the temples, chin, throat and a band over 
the eyes white, and the sides, flanks, from the shoulders downward, and 
loins clothed with white hair. 

Like all the others, these monkeys are pre-eminently a sylvan race ; 
they never abandon the forests, where they live in society under the 
guidance of the old males. They seem to be much attached to partic- 
ular localities. Each tribe or family has its own particular district, into 
which individuals of other tribes or species are never allowed to intrude, 
the whole community uniting promptly to repel any aggression, either on 
their territory or their individual right. So strongly is this propensity 
implanted within them that they carry it into our manageries. Noth- 
ing is more common than to see monkeys of the same species unit- 
ing to defend one qf their kind against the tyranny of a powerful 
oppressor, or to resent any insult offered to a member of their little 
community. 

These animals generally take up their quarters in the vicinity of a run- 
ning stream, and seldom approach the habitations of men, or invade the 
cultivated grounds of the gardener and husbandman. No doubt it is their 
spirit of union and mutual defence which prompts them to collect round 
travellers, and, by their chattering, grimace, and other means in their 
power, endeavor to prevent an intrusion into the spot which they regard 
as their own. 

There are no domestic animals in Congo except goats, swine, dogs 
cats, and a few sheep, with hair instead of wool. The goats are very 
beautiful, but the other quadrupeds are rather woe-begone specimens of 
their kind. The natives do not use beasts of burden, and the horses, 
asses, mules, and camels introduced by the Portuguese have died out. 
The Congoese have never kept horned cattle, though they thrive well 
enough in the few places on the coast where they are reared under the 
care of the whites. 

The natives in some parts of the country still retain traces of the civil- 



STANLEY AND THE CONGO. 



369 



ization and even of the literary culture introduced among them by the 
Jesuits, but south of the Coanza River the land is left almost solely to 




MONUMENT AND SKULLS ERECTED TO A CHIEF. 

wild hunting tribes, who, in their .taste for the ownership of cattle, and in 
the use of the spear and war-club, resemble the Kaffir race, with whom 

24 



370 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

they live in close proximity. The country abounds in many natural re- 
sources, including gum-copal, iron, and copper, and is capable of growing: 
coffee and many other crops. 

Cannibals on the War-path. 

Mr. Stanley describes the tribes amongst whom he ran the gauntlet 
during his descent of the river as cannibals of the fiercest description^ 
bold, athletic, and numerous, and in time likely to furnish ample work 
both for the missionary and the merchant, though, except that the ener- 
getic explorer has preserved some of their names, we are still at sea 
regarding their relationship to the Central Africans and to the tribes nearer 
the mouth of the river. 

The shores of both the Congo and the Aruwimi resounded with the 
din of the everlasting war-drums, and from every cove and island swarmed 
a crowd of canoes, that began forming into line to intercept and attack 
the travellers. These crafts were larger than any that had yet been 
encountered. The leading canoe of the savages was of portentous length,, 
with forty paddlers on each side, while on a platform at the bow were 
stationed ten redoubtable young warriors, with crimson plumes of the 
parrot stuck in their hair, and poising long spears. Eight steersmen were 
placed on the stern, with large paddles ornamented with balls of ivory ; 
while a dozen others, apparently chiefs, rushed from end to end of 
the boat directing the attack. 

Fifty-two other vessels of scarcely smaller dimensions followed in its 
wake. From the bow of each waved a long mane of palm fibre ; every 
warrior was decorated with feathers and ornaments of ivory ; and the 
sound of a hundred horns carved out of elephants' tusks, and a song of 
challenge and defiance chanted from two thousand savage throats, added 
to the wild excitement of the scene. Their wild war-cry was " Yaha- 
ha-ha, ya Bengala." 

The assailants were put to flight after a series of charges more deter- 
mined and prolonged than usual. 

In the centre of the village was found a singular structure — a temple 
of ivory, the circular roof supported by thirty-three large tusks, and 
surmounting a hideous idol, four feet high, dyed a bright vermillion 
color, with black eyes, beard and hair. Their cannibal propensities were 
plainly shown in the rows of skulls that grinned from poles, and the 
bones and other grisly remains of human feasts scattered about the 
village streets. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 

The Greatest Feat on Record— Stanley's Journey Across the Continent to the Congo — 
Expedition Planned by the Daily Telegraph of London and the New York 
/^^ra/(a?— Englishmen in the Party — The Barge Named the "Lady Alice"— An 
Army of Followers to Carry the Outfit— Journey to the Victoria Nyanza — Specu- 
lation as to the Sources of the Nile — Dangers of Travelling in the Dark Conti- 
nent — Crawling Through Jungles — ^A Famine-stricken District — Two Young Lions 
for Food — Stanley's Pity for His Famishing Men — Death of a Young English- 
man — Burial Under a Tree — Discovery of the Extreme Southern Sources of the 
Nile — Arrival at Vinyata — Strange Old Magic Doctor — Breaking Out of Hostili- 
ties—Severe Loss of Men — Treachery of Natives — Arrival of Six Beautiful 
Canoes — Stanley Receives a Royal Invitation — The Creat King Mtesa Welcomes 
the Traveller — Prodigal Display of Hospitality — Great Naval Parade in Honor of 
the Visitor — Uganda, the Country of King Mtesa — Startling Horrors of African 
Life — Severe Punishmtents Inflicted by the King — Errand Boys in Picturesque 
Dress — The King's Power of Life or Death — A Queen's Narrow Escape — Instru- 
ments of Torture — A Powerful Despot — Review of the Warriors — History of the 
Old King — Strange Tales of the Ancient Times — Marvellous Military Drill — Sin- 
gular Funeral Customs — Description of King Mtesa in Early Life — How the King 
Receives Visitors^Royal Ceremonies — Superstitious Dread of a Water Spirit — 
Decorations and Mystic Symbols — Worshipping with Fife and Drum — The Afri- 
can's Indolent Character — Stanley's Estimate of King Mtesa —A Doubtful Eulogy. 

'E now come to one of the most extraordinary, if not actually the 
greatest feat ever performed in the annals of modern explora- 
tion. This expedition undertaken by Henry M. Stanley from 
Zanzibar right across the African continent to the Congo, is so full of 
perilous adventure, so remarkable for pluck and resolution, that it stands 
out boldly upon the canvas of history as the greatest achievement of our 
times. 

Stanley's own account of what preceded his great undertaking is full 
of interest : 

" While returning to England in April, '74, from the Ashantee War, 
the news reached me that Livingstone was dead — that his body was on 
its way to England ! 

" Livingstone had then fallen ! He was dead ! He had died by the 
shores of Lake Bemba, on the threshold of the dark region he wished to 
explore ! The work he had promised to perform was only begun when 
death overtook him ! 

(371) 




372 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock 
passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to complete his work, to 
be, if God willed it, the next martyr to geographical science, or, if my 
life was to be spared, to clear, up not only the secrets of the Great River 
throughout its course, but also all that remained still problematic and 
incomplete of the discoveries of Burton and Speke, and Speke and 
Grant. 

" The solemn day of the burial of the body of my great friend arrived. 
I was one of the pall-bearers in Westminster Abbey, and when I had 
seen the coffin lowered into the grave, and had heard the first handful of 
earth thrown over it, I walked away sorrowing over the fate of David 
Livingstone." 

Soon the resolve was formed to complete, if possible, the work Living- 
stone had been compelled to leave undone. 

In this memorable expedition the Daily Telegraph of London and the 
New York Herald newspapers were associated. Mr. Stanley was com- 
missioned to complete the discoveries of Speke, Burton, and Livingstone. 
His party from England consisted of Francis and Edward Pocock and 
Frederick Barker. A " barge," named the " Lady Alice," was taken in 
sections, besides two other boats, with a perfect equipment. When all 
preparations had been completed, and the farewell dinners eaten, Stanley 
left England, to begin his perilous journey, on the 15th of August, 1874. 
He reached Zanzibar September 21st, 1874, and there found many former 
associates of his search for Doctor Livingstone. He engaged quite a 
little army of followers to ^o with him and carry the outfit. This outfit, 
which consisted of a most miscellaneous collection of articles, weighed 
18,000 pounds, and was, with the party, carried across to the continent 
from Zanzibar island in six Arab vessels. On the morning of the 17th of 
November the start was made into the interior. 

'* Was it the Source of the Nile? " 

The first stage of this journey was to the Victoria Nyanza, which 
Stanley desired to explore. The imperfect description and explanations 
of previous travellers had left much to be decided concerning this great 
inland sea. '' Was it the source of the Nile or of the Congo ? " " Was 
it part of a lake system, or a lake by itself? " These questions Stanley 
had determined to answer once for all. 

The advance to the great Lake Victoria was full of adventurous interest. 
Travelling in the " Dark Continent " means being at times in the wilder- 
ness without a guide, or with traitors acting as guides, which is a worse 
alternative. This was Stanley's fate, and he was deserted in the waste 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 373 

with a small stock of food. Through the terrible "jungle" the men had 
to crawl, cutting their way, guided solely by the compass, overcome by 
hunger and thirst, desertions frequent, sickness stalking alongside. This 
was indeed " famine-stricken Ugogo." 

While on this disastrous march he lost five of his people, who "wan- 
dered on helplessly, fell down, and died." The country produced no 
food, or even game, unless lions could be so called. Two young lions 
were found in a den, and were quickly killed and eaten. This was the 
only food for the whole expedition ! Stanley tells us how he returned to 
camp, and was so struck by the pinched jaws of his followers that he 
nearly wept. He decided to utilize his preciolis medical stores, and 
wisely, for the people were faminishing : medicinal comforts for the dead 
had no meaning. So he made a quantity of gruel, which kept the expe- 
dition alive for eight and forty hours, and then the men he had des- 
patched to Suma for provisions returned with food. Refreshed, they all 
marched on, so that they might reach Suma next morning. 
Death, of Edward Pocock. 

After proceeding twenty miles, they came to the cultivated districts 
and encamped. But the natives of Suma were hostile, and the increasing 
sick list made a four days' halt necessary. There were thirty men ailing 
from various diseases. Edward Pocock was taken ill here, and on the 
fourth day he became delirious ; but the increasing suspicions of the 
natives — who are represented as a very fine race — made departure neces- 
sary, and so a start was made on the 17th January, in very hostile com- 
pany. The famine in Ugogo had severely tried every man's constitution, 
and all felt weak in spirit if not ill in body. " Weary, harassed, feeble 
creatures," they reached Chiwyu, four hundred miles from the sea, and 
camped near the crest of a hill 5,400 feet high. Here Edward Pocock 
breathed his last. He was laid under an acacia, and upon the trunk of 
this fine old tree a cross was cut deeply, in memory of a faithful fol- 
lower. 

Hence two rivulets run, gradually converging, and finally uniting into 
a stream which trends toward Lake Victoria. So here the extreme 
southern sources of the Nile were discovered ; but up to this point the 
explorer had, as he said, " child's play," to what he afterwards encount- 
ered. We have already seen what this child's play was like. 

From sad Chiwyu to Vinyata was the route. After passing Mangina, 
the expedition entered Iturn, and so to Izanjih, where Kaif Halleck was 
seized with asthma. He would lag behind, and so Stanley proceeded 
gently to Vinyata, where the expedition arrived on the 21st of January, 




AFRICAN WARRIOR RUSHING TO BATTLE. 



(374) 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 375 

1875. Here a magic doctor paid Stanley a visit, and cast longing eyes 

at the stores. Scouts had been meantime sent after the man Kaif Hal- 

leck, and he was found murdered on the edge of a wood, his body gashed 

by many wounds. 

Hostilities Break Out. 

Next day, after the departure of the magic doctor, who came for 
another present, the natives showed hostile symptoms. One hundred 
savages, armed and in warlike, costume, came around, shouting and 
brandishing their weapons. At this juncture Stanley, follo^^ing Living- 
stone's practice, decided to make no counter demonstration ; but to 
remain quiet in camp, and provoke no hostility. This plan did not 
answer, however. The natives mistook for cowardice the wish for peace. 
There were so many tempting articles too — stores dear to the native 
mind, which the inhabitants coveted. No peace would be made at any 
price, and the savages attacked the camp in force. 

Stanley disposed his men behind hastily-erected earthworks and other 
shelter, and used the sections of the " Lady Alice " barge as a citadel for 
final occupation. There were only seventy effective men to defend the 
camp, but these were divided into detachments and subdivided. One 
sub-detachment was quickly destroyed, and in the day's fight twenty-one 
soldiers and one messenger were killed — three wounded. Stanley's men, 
however, pursued the retreating enemy, and burned many villages, the 
men bringing in cattle and grain as spoils. Next day the natives came 
on again, but they were quickly routed, and the expedition continued its 
way through the now desolate valley unmolested. So the Iturnians 
■were punished, after three days of battle. 

Heavy Losses of Men. 

The victors, however, had not much to boast of. After only three 
months' march, the expedition had lost 120 Africans and one European, 
from the effects of sickness and battle. There were now only 194 men 
left of 356 who had set out with the expedition. They pressed on, how- 
-ever, towards the Victoria Nyanza, and after escaping the warlike 
Mirambo, who fought everybody on principle, Stanley reached Kagehyi 
on the 27th February. He was now close to the Lake, having marched 
7.20 miles ; average daily march, 10 miles. 

On the 8th March Stanley, leaving F. Pocock to command the camp, 
set forth with eleven men in the " Lady Alice," to explore the Lake and 
ascertain whether it is one of a series, as Dr. Livingstone said it was. 
The explorer began by coasting Speke Gulf. Many interesting observa- 
tions were made. He penetrated into each little bay and creek, finding 



376 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

indications that convinced him that the slave trade is carried on there. 
But the explorer had to battle for his information. Near Chaga the 
natives came down, and, after inducing him to land, attacked him ; but 
Stanley " dropped " one man, and the natives subsided. On another occa- 
sion the natives tried to entrap him, but he escaped by firing on the 
savages, killing three men, and sinking their canoes with bullets from an 
elephant rifle. 

Continuing his course now unopposed, Stanley coasted along the 
Uganda shore. Just as he was about to depart, on the following morn- 
ing, he perceived six beautiful canoes, crowded with men, all dressed in 
white, approaching ; they were the king's people conveying a messenger 
from the King of Uganda to Stanley, begging a visit from him. This 
messenger was gorgeously arrayed for the important occasion ; he wore 
a bead-worked head-dress, above which long white cock's feathers waved, 
and a snowy white and long-haired goat-skin, intertwined with a crimson 
robe, depending from his shoulders, completed his costume. Approach- 
ing Stanley, he delivered his message thus : 

A Royal Invitation. 

" The Kabaka (King) sends me with many salaams to you. He is in 
great hopes that you will visit him, and has encamped at Usavara, that he 
may be near the lake when you come. He does not know from what 
land you have come, but I have a swift messenger with a canoe who will 
not stop until he gives all the news to the Kabaka. His mother dreamed 
a dream a few nights agd, and in her dream she saw a white man on this 
lake in a boat coming this way, and the next morning she told the 
Kabaka, and, lo ! you have come. Give me your answer, that I may 
send the messenger. Twiyanzi-yanzi-yanzi !" (Thanks, thanks, thanks.) 

Thus delivering himself, the messenger, whose name was Magassa, 
implored Stanley to remain one day longer, that he might show him the 
hospitalities of his country, and prepare him for a grand reception by the 
king, to which Stanley consented. 

Magassa was in his glory now. His voice became imperious to his 
escort of 182 men; even the feathers of his curious head-dress waved 
prouder, and his robe had a sweeping dignity worthy of a Roman 
emperor's. Upon landing, Magassa's stick was employed frequently. 
The sub-chief of Kadzi was compelled to yield implicit obedience to his 
viceregal behests. 

" Bring out bullocks, sheep, and goats, milk, and the mellowest of your 
choicest bananas, and great jars of maramba, and let the white man and 
his boatmen eat, and taste of the hospitalities of Uganda. Shall a white 



i 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 377 

man enter the Kabaka's presence with an empty belly ? See how sallow 
and pinched his cheeks are. We want to see whether we cannot show 
him kindness superior to what the pagans have shown him." 

Five canoes escorted the travellers to Usavara, the capital of King" 
Mtesa. The explorer was most kindly received, and closely questioned 
upon subjects of so diverse a character as to remind Stanley of a college 
examination for a degree. 

Great Naval Parade. 

King Mtesa appeared quite a civilized monarch, quite a different being 
from what he had been when Speke and Grant had visited him as a 
young man. He had become an adherent of Mahomet, wore Arab dress, 
and conducted himself well. He entertained Stanley with reviews of 
canoes, a naval " demonstation " of eighty-four " ships " and 2,500 men ! 
Shooting matches, parades, and many other civilized modes of entertain- 
ment were practiced for the amusement of the white man. In Uganda 
the traveller is welcomed, and perfectly safe. 

King Mtesa's country is situated on the equator, and is a much more 
pleasant land than might be supposed from its geographical position, 
being fertile, and covered with vegetation. It is a peculiarly pleasant, 
land for a traveller, as it is covered with roads, which are not only broad 
and firm, but are cut almost in a straight line from one point to another. 
Uganda seems to be unique in the matter of roads, the like of which are 
not to be found in any part of Africa, except those districts which are- 
held by Europeans. The roads are wide enough for carriages, but far 
too steep in places for any wheeled conveyance ; but as the Waganda 
(the name given to the inhabitants of Uganda) do not use carriages of 
any kind, the roads are amply sufficient for their purposes. The Waganda 
have even built bridges across swamps and rivers, but their knowledge of 
engineering has not enabled them to build a bridge that would not 
decay in a few years. 

Like many other tribes which bear, but do not deserve, the name of 
savages, the Waganda possess a curiously strict code of etiquette, which 
is so stringent on some points that an offender against it is likely to lose 
his life, and is sure to incur a severe penalty. If, for example, a man 
appears before the king with his dress tied carelessly, or if he makes a 
mistake in the mode of saluting, or if, in squatting before his sovereign, 
he allows the least portion of his limbs to be visible, he is led off to in- 
stant execution. As the fatal sign is given, the victim is seized by the 
royal pages, who wear a rope turban round their heads, and at the same 
moment all the drums and other instruments strike up, to drown his. 




KING MTESA AND HIS OFFICERS OF STATE. 



(378) 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 379 

cries for mercy. He is rapidly bound with the ropes snatched hastily 
from the heads of the pages, dragged off, and put to death, no one daring 
to take the least notice while the tragedy is being enacted. 

They have also a code of sumptuary laws which is enforced with the 
greatest severity. The skin of the serval, a kind of leopard cat, for ex- 
ample, may only be worn by those of royal descent. Once Captain Speke 
was visited by a very agreeable young man, who evidently intended to 
.strike awe into the white man, and wore round his neck the serval-skin 
emblem of royal birth. The attempted deception, however, recoiled 
upon its author, who suffered the fate of the daw with the borrowed 
plumes. An officer of rank detected the imposture, had the young man 
seized, and challenged him to show proofs of his right to wear the em- 
blem of royalty. As he failed to do so, he was threatened with being 
brought before the king, and so compounded with the chief for a fine of 
a hundred cows. 

Severe Punisliments. 

Heavy as the penalty was, the young man showed his wisdorh by 
acceding to it ; for if he had been brought before the king, he would 
assuredly have lost his life, and probably have been slowly tortured to 
death. One punishment to which Mtesa, the king of Uganda, seems to 
have been rather partial, was the gradual dismemberment of the criminal 
for the sake of feeding his pet vultures ; and although on some occasions 
he orders them to be killed before they are dismembered, he sometimes 
omits that precaution, and the wretched beings are slowly cut to pieces 
with grass blades, as it is against etiquette to use knives for this pur- 
pose. 

The king alone has the privilege of wearing a cock's-comb of hair on 
the top of his head, the remainder being shaved off This privilege is 
sometimes extended to a favorite queen or two, so that actual royalty 
may be at once recognized. 

When an inferior presents any article to his superior, he always pats 
and rubs it with his hands, and then strokes with it each side of his face. 
This is done in order to show that no witchcraft has been practiced with 
it, as in such a case the intended evil would recoil on the donor. This 
ceremony is well enough when employed with articles of use or apparel; 
but when meat, plantains, or other articles of food are rubbed with the 
■dirty hands and well-greased face of the donor, the recipient, if he should 
happen to be a white man, would be only too happy to dispense with the 
ceremony, and run his risk of witchcraft. 

The officers of the court are required to shave off all their hair except 



„ — T 






/ 






I* * 










\ 




■ ;iiife-te >^. 






i <■ 






tec's. ^ ^ •■! 







.-Ml^ 








/ ' ^' 






V. 




I 



(380) 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 381 

a single cockade at the back of the head, while the pages are distin- 
guished by two cockades, one over each temple, so that, even if they hap- 
pen to be without their turbans, their rank and authority are at once indi- 
cated. When the king sends the pages on a message, a most- pic- 
turesque sight is presented. All the commands of the king have to be 
done at full speed, and when ten or a dozen pages start off in a body, 
their dresses streaming in the air behind them, each striving to outrun the 
other, they look at a distance like a flight of birds rather than human 
beings. 

Here, as in many other countries, human life, that of the king ex- 
cepted, is not of the least value. On one occasion Mtesa received a new 
rifle with which he was much pleased. After examining it for some 
time, he loaded it, handed it to one of his pages, and told him to go 
and shoot somebody in the outer court. The page, a mere boy, took the 
rifle, went into the court, and in a moment the report of the rifle showed 
that the king's orders had been obeyed. The urchin came back grinning 
with delight at the feat which he had achieved, just like a schoolboy 
who has shot his first sparrow, and handed back the rifle to his master. 
As to the unfortunate man who was fated to be the target, nothing was 
heard about him, the murder of a man being far too common an incident 
to attract notice. 

On one occasion, when Mtesa and his wives were on a pleasure excur- 
sion, one of the favorites, a singularly good-looking woman, plucked a 
fruit, and offered it to the king, evidently intending to please him. In- 
stead of taking it as intended, he flew into a violent passion, declared 
that it was the first time that a woman had ever dared to offer him any- 
thing, and ordered the pages to lead her off to execution. 
The Queen's N^arrow Escape. 

These words were no sooner uttered by the king than the whole bevy 
of pages slipped their cord turbans from their heads, and rushed like a 
pack of Cupid beagles upon the fairy queen, who, indignant at the little 
urchins daring to touch her majesty, remonstrated with the king, and 
tried to beat them off like flies, but was soon captured, overcome, and 
dragged away crying for help and protection, whilst Lubuga, the pet 
sister, and all the other women clasped the king by his legs, and, kneel- 
ing, implored forgiveness for their sister. The more they craved for 
mercy, the more brutal he became, till at last he took a heavy stick and 
began to belabor the poor victim on the head. 

" Hitherto," says Speke, " I had been extremely careful not to inter- 
fere with any of the king's acts of arbitrary cruelty, knowing that such 



382 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



interference at an early stage would produce more harm than good. 
This last act of barbarism, however, was too much for my English blood 
to stand; and as I heard my name, M'zungu, imploringly pronounced, I 
rushed at the king, and staying his uplifted arm, demanded from him 
the woman's life. Of course I ran imminent risk of losing my own 
in thus thwarting the capricious tyrant, but his caprice proved the friend 







mi^y> 







ONE OF MTESAS WIVES RESCUED FROM DEATH. 

of both. The novelty of interference made him smile, and the woman 
was instantly released." 

On another occasion, when Mtesa had been out shooting, Captain 
Grant asked what sport he had enjoyed. The unexpected answer was 
that game had been very scarce, but that he had shot a good many men 
instead. Beside the pages who have been mentioned, there were several 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 38a 

executioners, who were pleasant and agreeable men in private life, and 
held in great respect by the people. They were supposed to be in com- 
mand of the pages who bound with their rope turbans the unfortunates 
who were to suffer, and mostly inflicted the punishment itself. 

The king seems to have been rather exceptionally cruel, his very wives 
being subject to the same capriciousness of temper as the rest of his sub- 
jects. Of course he beat them occasionally, but as wife beating is the 
ordinary custom in Uganda, he was only following the ordinary habits of 
the people. 

An Instrument of Torture. 

There is a peculiar whip made for the special purpose of beating wives. 
It is formed of a long strip of hippopotamus hide, split down the middle 
to within three or four inches of the end. The entire end is beaten and 
scraped until it is reduced in size to the proper dimensions of a handle. 
The two remaining thongs are suffered to remain square, but are twisted 
in a screw-like fashion, so as to present sharp edges throughout their 
whole length. When dry, this whip is nearly as hard as iron, and scarcely 
less heavy, so that at every blow the sharp edges cut deeply into the 
flesh. Wife flogging, however, was not all ; he was in the habit of kill- 
ing his wives and their attendants without the least remorse. There was 
scarcely a day when some woman was not led to execution, and some 
days three or four were murdered. Mostly they were female attendants 
of the queens, but frequently the royal pages dragged out a woman whose 
single cockade on the top of her head announced her as one of the king's 
wives. 

Mtesa, in fact, was a complete African Bluebeard, continually marry- 
ing and killing, the brides, however, exceeding the victims in number. 
Royal marriage is a very simple business in Uganda. Parents who have 
offended their king and want to pacify him, or who desire to be looked 
on favorably by him, bring their daughters and offer them as he sits at 
the door of his house. As is the case with all his female attendants, 
they are totally unclothed, and stand before the king in ignorance of their 
future. If he accept them, he makes them sit down, seats himself on 
their knees, and embraces them. This is the whole of the ceremony, 
and as each girl is thus accepted, the happy parents perform the curious 
salutation called " n'yanzigging," that is, prostrating themselves on the 
ground, floundering about, clapping their hands, and ejaculating the 
word "n'yans," or thanks, as fast as they can say it. 

Twenty or thirty brides will sometimes be presented to him in a single 
morning, and he will accept more than half of them, some of them being 



384 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

afterward raised to the rank of wives, while the others are relegated 
the position of attendants. 

Life in the palace may be honorable enough, but seems to be anything 
but agreeable, except to the king. The whole of the court are abject 
slaves, and at the mercy of any momentary caprice of the merciless, 
thoughtless, irresponsible despot. Whatever wish may happen to enter 
the king's head must be executed at once, or woe to the delinquent who 
fails to carry it out. Restless and captious as a spoiled child, he never 
seemed to know exactly what he wanted, and would issue simultaneously 
the most contradictory orders, and then expect them to be obeyed. 

A Merciless Despot. 

As for the men who held the honorable post of his guards, they were 
treated something worse than dogs — far worse, indeed, than Mtesa 
treated his own dog. They might lodge themselves as they could, and 
were simply fed by throwing great lumps of beef and plantains among 
them. For this they scramble just like so many dogs, scratching and 
tearing the morsels from each other, and trying to devour as much as 
possible within a given number of seconds. 

The soldiers of Mtesa were much better off than his guards, although 
their position was not so honorable. They are well dressed, and their 
rank is distinguished by a sort of uniform, the officers of royal birth 
wearing the leopard-skin tippet, while those of inferior rank are distin- 
guished by colored cloths, and skin cloaks made of the hide of oxen or 
antelopes. Each carries two spears, and an oddly-formed shield, origi- 
nally oval, but cut into deep scallops, and having at every point a pend- 
ant tuft of hair. Their heads are decorated in a most curious manner, 
some of the men wearing a crescent-like ornament, and some tying round 
their heads wreaths made of different materials, to which a horn, a bunch 
of beads, a dried lizard, or some such ornament, is appended. 

Not deficient in personal courage, their spirits were cheered in combat 
by the certainty of reward or punishment. Should they behave them- 
selves bravely, treasures would be heaped upon them, and they would 
receive from their royal master plenty of cattle and wives. But if they 
behaved badly, the punishment was equally certain and most terrible. 
A recreant soldier was not only put to death, but holes bored in his body 
with red-hot irons until he died from sheer pain and exhaustion. 
Picturesque Review of the Warriors. 

Now and then the king held a review, in which the valiant and the 
cowards obtained their fitting rewards. These reviews offered most pic- 
turesque scenes. " Before us was a large open sward, with the huts of 



oTANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 385 

the queen's Kamraviono or commander-in-chief beyond. The battalion, 
consisting of what might be termed three companies, each containing 
two hundred men, being drawn up on the left extremity of the parade 
ground, received orders ,to march past in single file from the right of 
companies at a long trot, and re-form again at the end of the square. 

" Noth ng conceivable could be more wild or fantastic than the sight 
which ensued ; the men all nearly naked, with goat or cat skins depend- 
ing from their girdles, and smeared with war colors, according to the 
taste of the individual; one-half of the body red or black, the other blue, 
not in regular order; as, for instance, one stocking would be red, and the 
other black, whilst the breeches above would be the opposite colors, and 
-SO with the sleeves and waistcoat. Every man carried the same arms, 
two spears and one shield, held as if approaching an enemy, and they 
thus moved in three lines of single rank and file, at fifteen or twenty 
paces asunder, with the same high action and elongated step, the ground 
leg only being bent, to give their strides the greater force. 

"After the men had all started, the captains of companies followed, 
even more fantastically dressed ; and last of all came the great Colonel 
Congow, a perfect Robinson Crusoe, with his long white-haired goat- 
skins, a fiidle-shaped leather shield, tufted with hair at all six extremities, 
bands of long hair tied below the knees, and a magnificent helmet 
covered with rich beads of every color in excellent taste, surmounted 
with a plume of crimson feathers, in the centre of which rose a bent stem 
tufted with goat's hair. Next, they charged in companies to and fro, and 
finally the senior officers came charging at their king, making violent 
professions of faith and honesty, for which they were applauded. The 
parade then broke up, and all went home.*' 

Distributing Rewards. 

At these reviews, the king distributes rewards and metes out his pun- 
ishments. The scene is equally stirring and terrible. As the various 
officers come before the king, they prostrate themselves on the ground, 
and after going through their elaborate salutation, they deliver their 
reports as to the conduct of the men under their command. To some 
are given various presents, with which they go off rejoicing, after floun- 
dering about on the ground in the extremity of their gratitude ; while 
others are seized by the ever-officious pages, bound, and dragged off to 
execution, the unfortunate men struggling with their captors, fighting, 
and denying the accusation, until they are out of hearing. As soon as 
the king thinks that he has had enough of the business, he rises 
abruptly, picks up his spears, and goes off, leading his dog with him . 

25 



886 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The native account of the origin of the Waganda kingdom is very 
curious. According to them, the country which is now called Uganda 
was previously united with Unyoro, a more northerly kingdom. Eight 
generations back there came from Unyoro a hunter named Uganda, bring- 
ing with him a spear, a shield, a woman, and a pack of dogs. He b"fcgan 
to hunt on the shores of the lake, and was so successful that he was 
joined by vast numbers of the people, to whom he became a chief. 

Under his sway, the hitherto scattered people assumed the character of 
a nation, and began to feel their strength. Their leading men then held 
a council on their government, and determined on making Uganda their 
king. " For," said they, " of what avail to us is the king of Unyoro ? 
He is so far distant that, when we sent him a cow as a present, the cow 
had a calf, and that calf became a cow and gaVe birth to another calf, and 
yet the present has not reached the king. Let us have a king of our 
own." So they induced Uganda to be their king, changed his name to 
Kimera, and assigned his former name to the country. 

Founding- a King-doni. 

Kimera, thus made king, took his station on a stone and showed him- 
self to his new subjects, having in his hand his spears and shield, and 
being accompanied by a woman and a dog ; and in this Avay all succeed- 
ing kings have presented themselves to their subjects. All the VVaganda 
are, in consequence, expected to keep at least two spears, a shield and a 
dog, and the officers are also entitled to have drums. The king of Unyoro 
heard of the new monarch, but did not trouble himself about a move- 
ment at such a distance, and so the kingdom of Uganda became an 
acknowledged reality. 

However, Kimera organized his people in so admirable a manner, that 
he became a perfect terror to the king of Unyoro, and caused him to 
regret that, when Kimera's power was not yet consolidated, he had not 
crushed him. Kimera formed his men into soldiers, drafted them into 
different regiments, drilled and organized them thoroughly. He cut roads 
through his kingdom, traversing it in all directions. He had whole fleets 
of boats built, and threw bridges over rivers wherever they interrupted 
his line of road. He descended into the minutest particulars of dorriestic 
polity, and enforced the strictest sanitary system throughout his country, 
not even suffering a house to be built unless it possessed the means of 
cleanliness. 

Organization, indeed, seems now to be implanted in the Waganda 
mind. Even the mere business of taking bundles of wood into the pal- 
ace must be done in military style. After the logs are carried a certain 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 387 

distance, the men charge up hill with walking sticks at the slope, to the 
sound of the drum, shouting and chorusing. On reaching their officer, 
they drop on their knees to salute, by saying repeatedly in one voice 
the word " n'yans " (thanks). Then they go back, charging down hill, 
stooping simultaneously to pick up the wood, till step by step, it taking 
several hours, the neatly cut logs are regularly stacked in the palace 
yards. 

Each officer of the district would seem to have a different mode of 
drill. The Wazeewah, with long sticks, were remarkably well-disciplined, 
shouting and marching all in regular time, every club going through the 
same movement; the met attractive part of the drill being when all 
crouched simultaneously, and then advanced in open ranks, swinging 
their bodies to the roll of their drums. 

By such means Kimera soon contrived to make himself so powerful 
that his very name w'as dreaded throughout Unyoro, into which country 
he was continually making raids. If, for example, at one of his councils 
he found that one part of his dominions was deficient in cattle or women, 
he ordered one or two of his generals to take their troops into Unyoro, 
and procure the necessary number. In order that he might always have 
the means of carrying his ideas into effect, the officers of the army are 
expected to present themselves at the palace as often as they possibly 
can, and, if they fail to do so, they are severely punished ; their rank is 
taken from them ; their property confiscated, and their goods, their wives, 
and their children are given to others. 

A King- Placed in an Oven to r>ry. 

In fict, Kimera proceeded on a system of reward and punishment: 
the former he meted out with a 1 beral hand ; the latter was certain, swift, 
and terrible. In process of time Kimera died, and his body was dried 
by being placed over an oven. When it was quite dry, the lower jaw 
was removed and covered with beads ; and this, together with the body, 
were placed in tombs, and guarded by the dec: ased monarch's Tivorite 
women, who were prohibited even from seeing his successor. 

After Kimera's death, the people proceeded to choose a king from 
among his many children, called " Warangira," or princes. The king 
elect was very young, and was separated from the others who were 
placed in a suite of huts under charge of a keeper. As soon as the 
young prince reached years of discretion, he was publicly made king, 
and at the same time all his brothers except two were burned to death. 
The t.vo were allowed to live in case the new king should die before he 
had any sons, and also as companions for him. As soon as the line of 



388 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

direct succession was secured, one of the brothers was banished into 
Unyoro, and the other allowed to live in Uganda. 

When Stanley saw Mtesa he was an elderly man, but when Captains 
Speke and Grant arrived in Uganda, he was about twenty-five years of 
Vige, and, although he had not been formally received as king, wielded a 
power as supreme as if he had passed through this ceremony. He was 
wise enough to keep up the system which had been bequeathed to him 
by his ancestors, and the Uganda kingdom was even more powerful in 
his time than it had been in the days of Kimera. A close acquaintance 
proved that his personal character was not a pleasant one, as indeed was 
likely when it is remembered that he had possessed illimitable power 
ever since he was quite a boy, and in consequence had never known con- 
tradiction. 

He was a very fine-looking young man, and possessed in perfection 
the love of dress, which is so notable a feature in the character of the 
Waganda. They are so fastidious in this respect, that for a man to 
appear untidily dressed before his superiors would entail severe punish- 
ment, while, if he dared to present himself before the king with the least 
disorder of apparel, immediate death would be the result. Even the 
royal pages, who rush about at full speed when performing their com- 
missions, are obliged to hold their skin cloaks tightly round them, lest 
any portion of a naked limb should present itself to the royal glance. 
Striking Dress and Appearance. 

The appearance of Mtesa is described as follows : — " A more theatrical 
sight I never saw. The king, a good-looking, well-formed young man 
of twenty-five, was sitting upon a red blanket, spread upon a square plat- 
form of royal grass, encased in tiger-grass reeds, scrupulously dressed in 
a new 'mbugu (or grass-cloth). The hair of h's head was cut short, 
except upon tl;,e top, where it was combed up into a high ridge, running 
from stem to stern, like a cock's comb. On his neck was a very neat 
ornament — a large ring of beautifully-worked small beads, forming 
elegant patterns by their various colors. On one arm was another bead 
ornament, prettily devised, and on the other a wooden charm, tied by a 
string covered with a snake skin. On every finger and toe he had alter- 
nate brass and copper rings, and above the ankles, half-way up the calf, a 
.stocking of very pretty beads. 

" Everything was light, neat, and elegant in its way ; not a fault could 
be found with the taste of his ' getting-up.' For a handkerchief, he had 
a well-folded piece of bark, and a piece of gold-embroidered silk, which 
he constantly employed to hide his large mouth when laughing, or to wipe 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 



380 



it after a drink of plantain wine, of which he took constant and copious 
draughts from Httle gourd cups, administered by his ladies in waiting, 
who were at once his sisters and his wives. A white dog, spear, shield, 
and woman — the Uganda cognizance— were by his side, as also a host of 
staff officers, with whom he kept up a brisk conversation, on one side ; ^ 
and on the other was a band of ' Wichwezi,' or lady sorcerers." 

These women are indispensable appendages to the court, and attend 
the king wherever he goes, their office being to avert the evil eye from 




WILD FREAKS OF A FEMALE SORCERER. 

their monarch, and to pour the plantain wine into the royal cups. They 
are distinguished by wearing dried lizards on their heads, and on their 
belts are fastened goat-skin aprons, edged with Httle bells. 

Mtesa's palace is of enormous dimensions, and almost deserves the 
name of a village or town. , It occupies the whole side of a hill, and con- 
sists of streets of huts arranged as methodically as the houses r f an 
American town, the line being preserved by fences of the tall yellow tiger- 
grass of Uganda.: There are also squares and open spaces, and the whole 
is kept in perfect order and neatness. The inner courts are entered by 



39.0 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

means of gates, each gate being kept by an officer, who permits no one 
to pass who has not the king's permission. In case his vigilance should 
be evaded, each gate has a bell fastened to it on the inside. 
How the Kingf Receives Visitors. 
The mode of welcoming strangers is as follows : Under the shade of 
'the hut the monarch is seated on his throne, having on one side the 
spears, shield, and dog, and on the other the woman, these being the 
accompaniments of royalty. Some of his pages are seated near him, with 
their cord turbans bound on their tufted heads, ready to obey his slightest 
word. Immediately in front are some soldiers saluting him, and one of 
them, to whom he has granted some favor, is floundering on the ground, 
thanking, or " n'yanzigging," according to the custom of the place. On 
the other side is the guest, a man of rank, who is introduced by the officer 
of the gate. The door itself, with its bells, is drawn aside, and over the 
doorway is a rope, on which are hung a row of charms. The king's pri- 
vate band is seen in the distance, performing with its customary vigor. 

The architecture of the huts within these enclosures is wonderfully 
good, the Waganda having great natural advantages, and making full 
use of them. The principal material in their edifices is reed, which in 
Uganda grows to a very great height, and is thick and strong in the 
stem. Grass for thatching is also found in vast quantities, and there is 
plenty of straight timber for the rafters. The roof is double, in order to 
exclude the sunbeams, and the outer roof comes nearly to the ground on 
all sides. The fabric is upheld by a number of poles, from which are 
hung corn-sacks, meat, and other necessaries. 

The interior is separated into two compartments by a high screen 
made of plantain leaf, and within the inner apartment the cane bedstead 
of the owner is placed. Yet, with all this care in building, there is only 
one door, and no window or chimney; and although the Waganda keep 
their houses tolerably clean, tiie number of dogs which they keep fill 
their huts with fleas, so that when a traveller takes possession of a house, 
he generally has the plantain screen removed, and makes on the floor as 
large a fire as possible, so as to exterminate the insect inhabitants. 

Royal Cereiiioiiies. 

The ceremonies of receiving a royal guest are as elaborate as the 
jarchitecture. Officers of rank step forward to greet him, while musicians 
are in attendance, playing on the various instruments of Uganda, mo.^t of 
them being similar to those which have already been described. Even 
the height of the seat on which the visitor is to place himself is rigor- 
ously determined, the chief object seeming to be to force him to take a 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 391 

seat lower than that to which he is entitled. In presence of the king, 
who sits on a chair or throne, no subject is allowed to be seated on any- 
thing higher than the ground ; and if he can be induced to sit in the 
blaz.ng sunbeams, and wait until the king is pleased to see him, a triumph, 
of diplomacy has been secured. 

When the king has satisfied himself with his guest, or thinks that he 
is tired, he rises without any warning, and marches off to his room, using 
the peculiar gait affected by the kings of Uganda, and supposed to be 
imitated from the walk of the lion. To the eyes of the Waganda, the 
" lion's step," as the peculiar walk is termed, is very majestic, but to the 
eyes of an American it is simply ludicrous, the feet being planted widely 
apart, and the body swung from side to side at each step. 

After Mtesa had received his white visitor, he suddenly rose and 
retired after the royal custom, and, as etiquette did not permit him to eat 
until he had seen his visitors, he took the opportunity of breaking his 
fast. 

The Waganda are much given to superstition, and have a most implicit 
faith in charms. The king is very rich in charms, and, whenever he 
holds his court, has vast numbers of them suspended behind him, besides 
those which he carries on his person. These charms are made of almost 
anything which the magician chooses to select. Horns filled with 
magic powder are perhaps the most common, and these are slung on the 
neck or tied on the head if small, and kept in the huts if large. 

Famous Water- Spirit. 

Their great object of superstitious dread is a sort of water-spirit, which 
is supposed to inhabit the lake, and to wreak his vengeance upon those 
who disturb him. Like the water-spirits of the Rhine, this goblin has 
supreme jurisdiction, not only on the lake itself, but in all rivers that 
communicate with it ; and the people are so afraid of this aquatic demon, 
that they would not allow a sounding-line to be thrown into the water, 
lest perchance the weight should happen to hit the water-spirit and 
enrage him. The name of this spirit is M'gussa, and he communicates 
with the people by means of his own special minister or priest, who lives 
on an island, and is held in nearly as much awe as his master. 

Mtesa once took Captain Speke with him to see the magician. He 
took also a number of his wives and attendants, and it was very amusing, 
when they reached the boats, to see all the occupants jump into the 
water, ducking their heads so as to avoid seeing the royal women, a stray 
glance being sure to incur immediate death. They proceeded to the 
island on which the wizard lived. 



392 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" Proceeding now through the trees of this beautiful island, we next 
turned into the hut of the M'gussa's familiar, which at the further end 
was decorated with many mystic symbols, among them a paddle, the 
badge of high office ; and for some time we sat chatting, when pombe 
was brought, and the spiritual medium arrived. He was dressed Wich- 
wezi fashion, with a little white goatskin apron, adorned with various 
charms, and used a paddle for a walking-stick. He was not an old man, 
though he affected to be so, walking very slowly and deliberately, cough- 
ing asthmatically, glimmering with his eyes, and mumbling like a witch. 
With much affected difficulty he sat at the end of the hut, beside the 
symbols alluded to, and continued his coughing full half an hour, when 
his wife came in in the same manner, without saying a word, and assumed 
the same affected style. 

"The king jokingly looked at me and laughed, and then at these 
strange creatures by turns, as much as to say, ' What do you think of 
them ? ' but no voice was heard, save that of the old wife, who croaked 
like a frog for water, and, when some was brought, croaked again because 
it was not the purest of the lake's produce — had the first cup changed, 
wetted her lips with the second, and hobbled away in the same manner 
as she had come." 

Worshipping- With Drums and Horns. 

On their pathways and roads, which are very numerous and well kept, 
they occasionally place a long stick in the ground, with a shell or other 
charm on the top, or suspend the shell on the overhanging branch of a 
tree. Similar wands, on a smaller scale, are kept in the houses, and bits 
of feathers, rushes, and other articles are tied behind the door. Snake- 
skin is of course much used in making these charms, and a square piece 
of this article is hung round the neck of almost every man of this country. 

The religion of the Waganda is of course one inspired by terror, and 
not by love, the object of all their religious rites being to avert the anger 
of malignant spirits. Every new moon has its own peculiar worship, 
which is conducted by banging drums, replenishing the magic horns, 
and other ceremonies too long to describe. The most terrible of their 
rites is that of human sacrifice, which is usually employed when the 
king desires to look into the future. 

The victim is always a child, and the sacrifice is conducted in a most 
cruel manner. Having discovered by his incantations that a neighbor 
is projecting war, the magician flays a young child, and lays the bleeding 
body in the path on which the soldiers pass to battle. Each warrior 
steps over the bleeding body, and thereby is supposed to procure immu- 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 393 

nity for himself in the approaching battle. When the king makes war, 
his chief magician uses a still more cruel mode of divination. He takes 
a large earthern pot, half fills it with water, and then places it over the 
fireplace. On the mouth of the pot he lays a small platform of crossed 
sticks, and having bound a young child and a fowl, he lays them on the 
platform, covering them with another pot, which he inverts over them. 
The fire is then lighted, and suffered to burn for a given time, when the 
upper pot is removed, and the victims inspected. If they should both be 
dead, it is taken as a sign that the war must be deferred for the present ; 
but if either should be alive, war may be made at once. 
Character of the African. 

How the Negro has lived so many ages without advancing seems mar- 
vellous, when all the countries surrounding Africa are so forward in com- 
parison. And, judging from the progressive state of the world, one is 
led to suppose that the African must soon either step out from his dark- 
ness, or be superseded by a being superior to himself The African neither 
can help himself nor be helped by others, because his country is in 
such a constant state of turmoil that he has too much anxiety on hand 
looking out for his food to think of anything else. 

As his fathers did, so does he. He works his wife, sells his children, 
enslaves all he can lay hands on, and, unless when fighting for the prop- 
erty of others, contents himself with drinking, singing, and dancing like 
a baboon, to drive dull care away. A few only make cotton cloth, or 
work in wool, iron, copper, or salt, their rule being to do as little as pos- 
sible, and to store up nothing beyond the necessaries of the next season, 
lest their chiefs or neighbors should covet and take it from them. 

There are many kinds of food which the climate affords to anyone of 
ordinary industry, such as horned cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, fowls, ducks, 
and pigeons, not to mention the plantain and other vegetable products, 
and with such stores of food at his command, it is surprising that the 
black man should be so often driven to feed on wild herbs and roots, 
dogs, cats, rats, snakes, lizards, insects, and other similar animals, and 
should be frequently found on the point of starvation^ and be compelled 
to sell his own children to procure food. Moreover, there are elephants, 
rhinoceroses, hippopotami, buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes, guinea-fovvls, 
and a host of other animals, which can be easily captured in traps or 
pitfalls, so that the native African lives in the midst of a country which 
produces food in boundless variety. The reasons for such a phenomenon 
are simple enough, and may be reduced to two, — namely, utter want of 
foresight and constitutional indolence. 




(394) 



STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 395 

Mtesa took a deliberate view of Stanley, as if studying him, while the 
compliment was reciprocated, since the latter was no less interested in the 
king. After the audience Stanley repaired to his hut and wrote the fol- 
lowing" : " As I had read Speke's book for the sake of its geographical 
information, T retained but a dim remembrance of his description of his 
life in Uganda. If I remember rightly, Spcke described a youthful prince, 
vain and heartless, a wholesale murderer and tyrant, one who delighted 
in fat women. Doubtless he described what he saw, but it is far from 
being the state of things now. Mtesa has impressed me as being an 
intelligent and distinguished prince, who, if aided in time by virtuous 
philanthropists, will do more for Central Africa than fifty years of Gospel 
teaching, unaided by such authority, can do. 

Stanley's Estimate of Mtesa. 

" I think I see in him the light that shall lighten the darkness of this 
benighted region ; a prince well worthy the most hearty sympathies that 
Europe can give him. In this man I see the possible fruition of Living- 
stone's hopes, for with his aid the civilization of Equatorial Africa 
becomes feasible. I remember the ardor and love which animated Living- 
stone when he spoke of Sekeletu ; had he seen Mtesa, his ardor and love 
had been for him tenfold, and his pen and tongue would have been 
employed in calling all good men to a'-sist him." 

Five days later Stanley added to his observations the following: " I see 
that Mtesa is a powerful emperor, with great influence over his neighbors. 
I have to-day seen the turbulent Mankorongo, king of Usui, and Mirambo, 
that terrible phantom who disturbs men's minds in Unyamwezi, through 
their embassies, kneeling and tendering their tribute to him. I saw over 
three thousand soldiers of Mtesa nearly half-civilized. I saw about a 
hundred chiefs who might be classed in the same scale as the men 
of Zanzibar and Oman, clad in as rich robes, and armed in the same 
fashion, and have witnessed with astonishment such order and law as is 
obtainable in semi-civilized countries. All this is the result of a poor 
Muslim's labor ; his name is Muley bin Salim. He it was who first began 
teaching here the doctrines of Islam. False and contemptible as the^e 
doctrines are, they are preferable to the ruthless instincts of a savage des- 
pot, whom Speke and Grant left wallowing in the blood of women, and I 
honor the memory of Muley bin Salim — Muslim and slave-trader though 
he be — the poor priest who has wrought this happy change. With a 
strong desire to improve still more the character of Mtesa, I shall begin 
buildmg on the foundation stones laid by Muley bin Salim. I shall de- 
destroy his belief in Islam, and teach the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth." 



396 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Col. Long, an officer of the Egyptian army under Gen. Gordon, had 
visited Mtesa nearly a year previous to Stanley's arrival, and he describes 
the emperor as exceedingly fierce and brutal, altogether different from 
Stanley's conceptions of the great African ruler. Col. Long travelled on 
horseback from Gondokoro to Mtesa's capital, and as the horse is an 
unknown animal in Central Africa, the natives at first supposed that the 
gallant Colonel and his steed were united in some mysterious manner, 
and concluding from this that he was an extraordinary being they gave 
him an unusually grand reception. Mtesa ordered thirty human beings to 
be slain in honor of his visit, the victims being selected from among pris- 
oners captured in war. Col. Long, being unaccompanied except by a few 
native servants, did not consider it prudent to interfere with the shocking 
ceremony, but was compelled to be an unwilling witness of this horrible 
deed. 

At a later period a change came over the king. Mtesa conceived a 
strong affection for Stanley, and repeatedly invited him to his palace, 
where much of. the time was devoted to a discussion of religion, and so 
earnestly did Stanley relate the story of Christ's life and sufferings that 
he won the king over from Mohammedanism to the Christian faith. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 

Stanley Off for Victoria Nyanza — A Redoubtable General Who Had to be Putinlrons — 
Stanley Received With August Ceremonies by a King— The Great Mtesa Agrees 
to Join the Expedition — Tue King's Wonderful Army — Splendid Battalions of 
Warriors — Native Hostilities on Foot— Repulse of Mtesa's Proud Army — Stan- 
ley's Cunning Device to Defeat the Enemy — Construction of a Terrible War- 
boat — Proclamation of Amnesty to Those Who Will Surrender — The Stratagem 
Successful — A Renowned Arab — Stanley Obtains the Aid of Tipo-tipo — Dreadful 
Accounts of Ferocious Cannibals and Dwarfs With Poisoned Arrows — Tales 
Rivalling the Stories of the "Arabian Nights " — Dwarfs That Scream Like De- 
mons — Clouds of Arrows Filling the Air — Terrible Tales of Huge Pythons — 
Numerous Leopards and Other Wild Beasts — Stories of Gorillas — Stanley's Con- 
tract With Tipo-tipo— Arrival at Nyangwe — Livingstone's Description of Nyang- 
we's Renowned Market — Savage "Dudes" and Hard-working Women — An 
Amusing Scene — New Journeys and Discoveries — Fierce Attack From Hostile 
Natives— Engagement With Fifty-four Gun-boats— War Vessels Repulsed by 
Stanley's Men — Fifty-seven Cataracts in a Distance of Eighteen Hundred Miles — 
Five Months Covering One Hundred and Eighty Miles — Death in the Boiling 
Rapids— Men Hurried to a Yawning Abyss— Miraculous Escape of One of Stan- 
ley's Men — Thrilling Adventure of Zaida — Rescued in the Nick of Time — Brave 
Frank Pocock Drowned — Stanley's Incontrollable Grief— Nearing the Mouth of 
the Congo and the Atlantic Coast— Stanley's Letter Appealing for Help— Quick 
Response of Whit^. Men — Stanley's Letter of Grateful Thanks — Final Arrival at 
the Long-sought Coast — Stanley's Fame Fills the World. 

TANLEY, after remaining sometime with Mtesa, departed in Octo- 
ber to explore the countiy lying between Albert Nyanza 
and the Victoria Nyanza. This time he had with him an escort 
of Mtesa's men, under a "general" named Sambusi. The expe- 
dition, after a pleasant march, came within a few miles of the Albert 
Nyanza, but then the native warriors wished to return, and Stanley 
yielded perforce. He returned, but the faint-hearted " general " was put 
in irons by Mtesa, whom he had shamed. 

The expedition reached Mtesa's on the 23d of August, and the king 
received Stanley in his council chamber with great ceremony and many 
evidences of friendship. Stanley took this occasion to inform him of 
the object of his visit, which was to procure guides and an escort to 
conduct him to Albert Lake. Mtesa replied that he was now engaged in 
a war with the rebellious people of Uvuma, who refused to pay their 
tribute, harassed the coast of Chagwe and abducted his people, " selling 

(397) 



398 V/ONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

them afterward for a few bunches of bananas," and that it was not cus- 
tomary in Uganda to permit strangers to proceed on their journeys 
while the king was engaged in war; but as soon as peace should be 
obtained he would send a chief with an army to give him safe conduct 
by the shortest route to the lake. Being assured that the war would 
not last long, Stanley resolved to stay and witness it as a novelty, and 
take advantage of the time to acquire information about the country and 
its people. 

On the 27th of August Mtesa struck his camp, and began the march 
to Nakaranga, a point of land lying within seven hundred yards of the 
island of Ingira, which had been chosen by the Wavuma as their depot 
and stronghold. He had collected an army numbering 150,000 warriors, 
as it was expected that he would have to fight the rebellious Wasoga 
as well as the Wavuma. Besides this great army must be reckoned nearly 
50,000 women, and about as many children and slaves of both sexes, so 
that at a rough guess, after looking at all the camps and various tributary 
nations which, at Mtesa's command, had contributed their quotas, the 
number of souls in Mtesa's camp must have been about 250,000! 
King Mtesa's Iinmeiise Army. 

Stanley had the pleasure of reviewing this immense army as it was put 
in motion towards the battle-ground. He describes the officers and 
troops in the following graphic style : 

The advance-guard had departed . too early for me to see them, but, 
curious to see the main body of this great army pass, I stationed myself 
at an early hour at the extreme limit of the camp. 

First with his legion, came Mkwenda, who guards the frontier between 
the Katonga valley and Willimiesi against the Wanyoro. He is a stout, 
burly young man, brave as a lion, having much experience of wars, and 
cunning and adroit in his conduct, accomplished with the spear, and 
possessing, besides, other excellent fighting qualities. I noticed that the 
Waganda chiefs, though Muslimized, clung to their war-paint and national 
charms, for each warrior, as he passed by on the trot, was most villain- 
ously bedaubed with ochre and pipe-clay. The force under the command 
of Mkwenda might be roughly numbered at 30,000 warriors and camp- 
followers, and though the path was a mere goat-track, the rush of this 
legion on the half-trot soon crushed out a broad avenue. 

The old general Kangau, who' defends the country between Willimiesi 
and the Victoria Nile, came next with his following, their banners flying, 
drums beating, and pipes playing, he and his warriors stripped for action, 
their bodies and faces daubed with white, black, and ochreous war-paint. 




mm 



(399) 



400 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Next came a rush of about 2,000 chosen warriors, all tall men, expert 
with spear and shield, lithe of body and nimble of foot, shouting as they 
trotted past their war-cry of " Kavya, kavya " (the two last syllables of 
Mtesa's title when young — Mukavya, " king"), and rattling their spears. 
Behind them, at a quick m'arch, came the musket-armed body-guard of 
the emperor, about two hundred in front, a hundred on either side of 
the road, enclosing Mtesa and his Katekiro, and two hundred bringing 
up the rear, with their drums beating, pipes playing, and standards flying, 
and forming quite an imposing and warlike procession. 

Mtesa marched on foot, bare-headed, and clad in a dress of blue check 
cloth, with a black belt of English make round his waist, and — like the 
Rom&n emperors, who, when returning in triumph, painted their faces a 
deep Vermillion — his face dyed a bright red. The Katekiro preceded 
him, and wore a dark-grey cashmere coat, I think this arrangement 
was made to deceive any assassin who might be lurking in the bushes. 
If this was the case, the precaution seemed wholly unnecessary, as the 
march was so quick that nothing but a gun would have been effective, 
and the Wavuma and Wasoga have no such weapons. 

After Mtesa's body-guard had passed by, chief after chief, legion after 
legion, followed, each distinguished to the native ear by its different and 
peculiar drum-beat. They came on at an extraordinary pace, more like 
warriors hurrying up into action than on the march, and it is their 
custom, I am told, to move always at a trot when on an enterprise of a 
warlike nature. 

Stanley's Terrible War-boat. 

In the ensuing conflict King Mtesa's army was repulsed. Stanley 
finally asked of him 2,000 men, telling him that with this number he 
would construct a monster war-boat that would drive the enemy from 
their stronghold. 

This proposition gave Mtesa intense delight, for he had begun to enter- 
tain grave doubts of being able to subjugate the brave rebels. The 2,000 
men being furnished, Stanley set them to cutting trees and poles, which 
were peeled and the bark used for ropes. He lashed three canoes, of 
seventy feet length and six-and-a-half feet breadth, four feet from each 
other. Around the edge of these he caused a stockade to be made of 
strong poles, set in upright and then intertwined with smaller poles and 
rope bark. This made the floating stockade seventy feet long and twenty- 
seven feet wide, and so strong that spears could not penetrate it. This 
novel craft floated with much grace, and as the men paddled in the spaces 
between the boats they could not be perceived by the enemy, who 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. ' 401 

thought it must be propelled by some Supernatural agency. It was 
manned by two hundred and fourteen persons, and moved across the 
channel like a thing of life. 

As this terrible monster of the deep approached the enemy, Stanley 
caused a proclamation to be made to them, in deep and awful tones, that 
if they did not surrender at once their whole island would be blown to 
pieces. The stratagem had the desired effect; the Wavuma were terror- 
stricken and surrendered unconditionally. Two hours later they sent a 
canoe and fifty men with the tribute demanded. Thus ended the war and 
preparations were at once made to advance. 

Tlie Celebrated Tipo-tipo. 

Stanley turned toward Lake Tanganyika, and camped at Ujiji, where 
he had met David Livingstone. Thence he journeyed to Nyangwe, the 
farthest northern place attained by Cameron. Cameron had gone south 
to Benguela. 

While in the vicinity of Nyangwe, Stanley chanced to meet Tipo-tipo, 
who had befriended Cameron while on his journey, having conducted 
him as far as Kasongo's country. From him he learned that Cameron 
had been unable to explore the Lualaba, and thus the work which Liv- 
ingstone had not been able to complete was as yet unfinished. 

Not believing, as Livingstone did, that the Lualaba was the remote 
southern branch of the Nile, but having the same conviction as Cam- 
eron that it was connected with the Congo, and was the eastern part of 
that river, and having, what Livingstone and Cameron had not, an ample 
force and sufficient supplies, he determined to follow the Lualaba, and 
ascertain whither it led. He met with the same difficulty that Living- 
stone and Cameron had encountered in the unwillingness of the people 
to supply canoes. 

They informed him, as they had the two previous explorers, that the 
tribes dwelling to the north on the Lualaba were fierce and warlike can- 
nibals, who would suffer no one to enter their territories, as the Arab 
traders had frequently found to their cost. That between Nyangwe and 
the cannibal region the natives were treacherous, and that the river ran 
through dreadful forests, through which he would have to make his way 
— information which afterward proved to be true. 

Cannibals and Poisoned Arrows. 

He nevertheless resolved to go; but it was not easily accomplished, as 
the people of Nyangwe filled his followers with terror by the accounts 
they gave of the ferocious cannibals, the dwarfs with poisoned arrows 
who dwelt near the river, and the terrible character of the country 

26 



402 ' WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

through which they would have to pass ; which had such a dishearten- 
ing effect upon them that difficulties arose which would have been insur- 
mountable to any one but a man of Stanley's indomitable perseverance, 
sagacity and tact. He overcame all obstacles ; succeeded in getting- 
canoes, and in engaging an Arab chief and his followers to accompany 
him a certain distance; an increase of his force which gave confidence to 
his own people. 

Of course there was a good deal of palavering before the Arab could 
be induced to join the expedition and brave the inevitable perils that 
would attend it. 

Tipo-tipo listened respectfully to Stanley's proposition, and then called 
in one of his officers who had been to the far north along the river, 
requesting him to impart such information as he possessed in regard to< 
the people inhabiting that country. This man told a marvellous tale^ 
almost rivalling the wonderful creations, of the Arabian Nights ; and 
Stanley subsequently learned by his own experience that much of the 
story was true. 

Those Wonderful Dwarfs. 

" The great river," said he, " goes always toward the north, until it 
empties into the sea. We first reached Uregga, a forest land, where there 
is nothing but woods, and woods, and woods, for days and weeks and 
months. There was no end to the woods. In a month we reached 
Usongora Meno, and here we fought day after day. They are fearful 
fellows and desperate. V^a lost m^ny men, and all who were slain were 
eaten. But we were brave, and pushed on. When we came to Kima- 
Kima we heard of the land of the little men, where a tusk of ivory could 
be purchased for a single cowrie (bead). Nothing now could hold us 
back. We crossed the Lumami, and came to the land of the Wakuma. 
The Wakuma are big men themselves, but among them we saw some of 
the dwarfs, the queerest little creatures alive, just a yard high, with long 
beards and large heads. The dwarfs seemed to be plucky little devils,, 
and asked us many questions about where we were going and what we 
wanted. They told us that in their country was so much ivory we had 
not enough men to carry it ; ' but what do you want with it, do you eat 
it ?' said they. ' No, we make charms of it, and will give you beads ta 
show us the way.' ' Good, come along.' 

"We followed the little devils six days, when we came to their country, 
and they stopped and said we could go no further until they had seen 
their king. Then they left us, and after three days they came back and 
took us to their village, and gave us a house to live in. Then the dwarfs 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 403 

came from all parts. Oh! it is a big country! and everybody brought 
ivory, until we had about four hundred tusks, big and little, as much as 
we could carry. We bought it with copper, beads, and cowries. No 
cloths, for the dwarfs wdre all naked, king and all. We did not starve in 
the dwarf land the first ten days. Bananas as long as my arm, and plan- 
tains as long as the dwarfs were tall. One plantain was sufficient for a 
man for one day. 

"When we had sufficient iv»ory and wanted to go, the little king said 
no ; ' this is my country, and you shall not go until I say. You must 
buy all I have got ; I want more cowries ;' and he ground his teeth and 
looked just like a wild monkey. We laughed at him, for he was very 
funny, but he would not let us go. Presently we heard a woman scream, 
and rushing out of our house, we saw a woman running with a dwart's 
arrow in her bosom. Some of our men shouted, ' The dwarfs are com- 
ing from all the villages in great numbers ; it is war — prepare !' We had 
scarcely got our guns before the little wretches were upon us, shooting 
their arrows in clouds. They screamed and yelled like monkeys. Their 
arrows were poisoned, and many of our men who were hit, died. 
Arabian Nights Outdone. 

" Our captain brandished his two-handed sword, and cleaved them as 
you would cleave a banana. The arrows passed through his shirt in 
many places. We had many good fellows, and they fought well ; but it 
was of no use. The dwarfs were firing from the tops of the trees ; they 
crept through the tall grass close up to us, and shot their arrows in our 
faces. Then some hundred of us cut down banana-trees, tore doors out, 
and houses down, and formed a boma at each end of the street, and then 
we were a little better off, for it was not such rapid, random shooting ; we 
fired more deliberately, and after several hours drove them off. 

" But they soon came back and fought us all that night, so that we 
could get no water, until our captaifi — oh ! he was a brave man, he was a 
lion! — held up a shield before him, and looking around, he just ran 
straight where the crowd was thickest ; and he seized two of the dwarfs, 
and we who followed him caught several more, for they would not run 
away until they saw what our design was, and then they left the water 
clear. We filled our pots and carried the little Shaitans (devils) into the 
boma ; and there we found that we had caught the king. We wanted to 
kill him, but our captain said no, kill the others and toss their heads over 
the wall; but the king was not touched, 

" Then the dwarfs wanted to make peace, but they were on us again in the 
middle of the night, and their arrows sounded ' twit/ ' twit ' in all direc- 




(404) 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 405 

tions. At last we ran away, throwing down everything but our guns 
and swords. But many of our men were so weak by hunger and thirst 
that they burst their hearts running, and died. Others lying down to 
rest found the little devils close to them when too late, and were killed. 
Out of our great number of people only thirty returned alive, and I am 
one of them." 

Stanlfey listened with rapt attention to the recital of this wonderful 
story, and at its conclusion he said: "Ah! good. Did you see any- 
thing else very wonderful on your journey? " 

" Oh yes ! There are monstrous boa-constrictors in the forest of 
Uregga, suspended by their tails to the branches, waiting for the passer- 
by or for a stray antelope. The ants in that forest are not to be despised. 
You cannot travel without your body being covered with them, when 
they sting you like wasps. The leopards are so numerous that you can- 
not go very far without seeing one. Almost every native wears a leopard- 
skin cap. The sokos (gorillas) are in the woods, and woe befall the man 
or woman met alone by them ; for they run to you and seize your hands, 
and bite the fingers off one by one, and as fast as they bite one off, they 
spit it out. The Wasongora Meno and Waregga are cannibals, and 
unless the force is very strong, they never let strangers pass. It is noth- 
ing but constant fighting. Only two years ago a party armed with three 
hundred guns started north of Usongora Meno ; they only brought sixty 
guns back, and no ivory. If one tries to go by the river, there are falls 
after falls, which carry the people over and down them." 
Making- a Contract witli an Aralb. 

It required no little heroism on the part of Stanley to face the dangers 
which he knew must lie between him and that point one thousand eight 
hundred miles distant, where the Congo, ten miles wide, rolls into the 
broad bosom of the Atlantic. Notwithstanding all the dangers which 
lay before them, Tipo-tipo agreed to accompany Stanley with his soldiers, 
the distance of sixty marches, for ;^5,ooo. One would naturally suppose 
that he, of all others, would shrink from such a task, seeing that in his 
last effort to reach the unexplored territory beyond, he had lost five 
hundred men. 

The conditions under which he agreed to escort Stanley were, that the 
sixty marches should not consume more than three months' time, and if, 
when they had gone that distance, he should come to the conclusion 
that he could not reach the mouth of the Congo, then he would return 
to Nyangwe ; or, if he chanced to fall in with any Portuguese traders, 
and desired to accompany them to the coast, he should give him (Tipo- 



406 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

tipo) two-thirds of his force, as a guard to protect him while on his 
return to Nyangwe. But Stanley did not propose to have all the con- 
ditions on the side of the chief, and' after refusing to grant the chief two- 
thirds of his force to protect him on his return, he made the following 
condition ; Should Tipo-tipo fail to perform faithfully his part, and should 
he through fear return before the sixty marches had been made, he 
should forfeit the ^5,000, and not be allowed a single man of Stanley's 
force to accompany him on his return. After some delay the chief 
assented to the contract as written by Stanley, and both men signed it. 

Before it had been signed, however, Stanley went to Pocock and told 
him just how matters stood, and showed him the dangers which must 
attend any attempt to proceed, but could they do so, it would draw upon 
the expedition the comments of the entire world. It was a fearful risk to 
run, but Pocock resolved to stand by him, and before he had finished, the 
latter replied, " Go on." Ah, they little knew when they made that 
agreement, what fate awaited them in the near future. The men were 
next informed of the determination to push on to the coast, and were told 
that if at the end of sixty marches they fell in with traders going east- 
ward, and they wished to return to Nyangwe, they could do so. The 
men promised to lemain with him, and he hastened to complete his 
arrangements. To do this he entered the village of Nyangwe. 

A Renowned Market, 

The most interesting feature connected with the village is its market, 
which has become a great institution in the district. Every fourth day 
is market-day, and on that day every one having anything to sell, or 
wishing to purchase anything, repaii^s to Nyangwe, to " buy and sell and 
.get gain." "Every one," says Dr. Livingstone, " is there in dead ear- 
nest ; little time is lost in friendly greetings. Vendors of fish run about 
wath little potsherds full of snails or small fishes — smoke-dried and spitted 
on twigs — or other relishes, to exchange for cassava roots, dried after 
being steeped about three days in water; potatoes, vegetables, or grain, 
bananas, flour, palm-oil, fowls, salt, pepper, all are bartered back and 
forth in the same manner. Each individual is intensely anxious to trade; 
those who have other articles are particularly eager to barter them for 
relishes, and are positive in their assertions of the goodness or badness 
of each article as market-people seem to be in conscience bound to be 
everywhere. 

" The sweat may be seen standing in great beads on their faces. Cocks, 
hanging with thgir heads down across their shoulders, contribute their 
bravest crowing, and pigs squeal their loudest. Iron knobs, drawn out 




(407) 



408 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

at each end to show the goodness of the metal, are exchanged for llotb 
of the Muabe palm. They have a large funnel of basket-work below the 
vessel holding the wares, and slip the goods down if they are not to be 
seen. They dealt fairly, and when differences aroGe they were easily 
settled by the men interfering or pointing to me; they appeal to each 
other, and have a strong sense of natural justice. 

Gay Men and Hard-working- Women. 

" With so much food changing hands amongst the three thousand 
attendants, much benefit is derived: some come from twenty to twenty- 
five miles. The men flaunt about in gaudy-colored lambas of many 
folded kilts — the women work the hardest — the potters slap and ring 
their earthenware all around, to show that there is not a single flaw in. 
them. I bought two finely-shaped earthen bottles of porous earthen- 
ware, to hold a gallon each, for one string of beads ; the women carry 
whole loads of them in their funnels above the baskets, strapped to the 
shoulders and forehead, and their bands are full besides ; the roundness 
of these vessels is wonderful, seeing no machine is used: no slaves could 
be induced to carry half as much as they do willingly. It is a scene of 
the finest natural acting imaginable. 

"The eagerness with which all sorts of assertions are made — the eager 
earnestness with which apparently all creation, above, around, and 
beneath, is called on to attest the truth of what they allege — and then 
the intense surprise and withering scorn cast on those who despise their 
goods ; but they show no concern when the buyers turn up their noses 
at them. Little girls run about selling cups of water for a few small 
fishes to the half-exhausted wordy combatants. To me it was an amus- 
ing scene. I could not understand the words that flowed off their glib 
tongues, but the gestures were too expressive to need interpretation." 

The village itself is ruled by two chiefs from neighboring districts^ 
Sheikh Abed, who is represented as being a tall, thin old man. having a 
white beard, rules the lower or southern section of the town, while Muini 
Dugumbi, an Arab trader, is chief over the upper or northern portion. 
The latter was the first to settle in the place, having done so in 1868, 
when he drove out the original inhabitants of the place, and established 
his harem, which was composed of more than three hundred slave- 
women. 

Stanley remained here until the 5th of November, when, having been> 
joined byTipo-tipo with seven hundred men, he set out upon his journey. 

Stanley now carried the "Lady Alice" across the 350 miles which 
intervened between Ujiji and Nyangwe, which is situated on the Lualaba 




PERILOUS DESCENT OF THE RAPIDS. 



(409) 



410 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

(of Livingstone), which Stanley as well as Cameron believed was a branch 
of the Congo. We shall now follow Stanley briefly in his discovery 
along that river, which he had determined to explore. 

On the 5th November he set out. He reinforced his following, and 
took supplies for six months. He had with him 140 rifles and seventy 
spearmen and could defy the warlike tribes of which he had heard so 
much, and he made up his mind to " stick to the Lualaba fair or foul !" 
For three weeks he pushed his way along the banks, meeting with 
tremendous difficulties, till all became disheartened. Stanley said he 
would try the river. The " Lady Alice " was put together and launched, 
and then the leader declared he would never- quit it until he reached the 
sea. "All I ask," said he to his men, " is that you follow me in the 
name of God." 

" In the name of God, master, we will follow you," they replied. They 
-did, bravely. 

Ferocious Attacks Tby Hostile Natives. 

A skirmish occurred at the outset, by the Ruiki river, and then the 
Ukassa rapids were reached. These were passed in safety, one portion 
of the expedition on the bank, the remainder in canoes. So the journey 
continued, but under very depressing circumstances, for the natives, when 
not hostile, openly left their villages, and would hold no communication 
vi^ith the strangers. Sickness was universal. Small-pox, dysentery, and 
other diseases raged, and every day a body or two was tossed into the 
river. A canoe was found, repaired, and constituted the hospital, and so 
was towed down stream.* On the 8th December a skirmish occurred, 
but speedily ended in the defeat of the savages, who had used poisoned 
arrows. At Vinya-Njara again, another serious fight ensued, the savages 
rushing against the stockades which surrounded the camp, and displaying 
•great determination. The attack was resumed at night. At daybreak, a 
part of the native town was occupied, and there again the fighting was 
continued. The village was held, but the natives were still determined, 
and again attacked; the arrows fell in clusters, and it was a very critical 
time for the voyagers. 

Fortunately the land division arrived and settled the matter; the sav- 
ages disappeared, and the marching detachment united with Stanley's 
crews. That night Pocock was sent out to cut away the enemy's canoes, 
and that danger was over. But now the Arab escort which had joined 
Stanley at Nyangwe became rebellious, and infected the rest. Stanley 
feared that all his people would mutiny, but he managed them with a 
iirm and friendly hand. So that danger passed. All this time the peo- 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 411 

pie had been dying of fever, small-pox, and poisoned arrows, and the 
constant attacks of the enemy prevented burial of the dead or attendance 
on the sick and wounded. 

On the 26th of December, after a merry Christmas, considering the 
circumstances, the expedition embarked, 149 in all, and not one deserted. 
To-morrow would echo the cry " Victory or Death." The explorers 
passed into the portals of the Unknown^ and on 4th January they 
reached a series of cataracts, now named Stanley Falls. This was a can- 
nibal country, and the man-eaters hunted the voyagers "like game." 
For four and twenty days the conflict continued, fighting, foot by foot^ 
the forty miles or so which were covered by the cataracts, and which the 
expedition had to follow by land, foraging, fighting, encamping, drag- 
ging the fleet of canoes, all the time with their lives in their hands, cut- 
ting their way through the forest and their deadly enemies. 

Attack of War- vessels Repulsed by Stanley's Men. 

Yet as soon as he had avoided the cannibals on land, they came after 
him on the water. A flotilla of fifty-four canoes, some enormous vessels, 
with a total of nearly two thousand warriors, were formidable obstacles 
in the way. But gun-powder won the day, and the natives were dis- 
persed with great loss, the village plundered of its ivory, which was very 
plentiful, and the expedition in all this lost only one man, making the 
sixteenth since the expedition had left Nyangwe. 

Some of the cataracts Stanley describes as magnificent, the current 
boiling and leaping in brown waves six feet high. The width in places 
is 2,000 and 1,300 feet, narrowing at the falls. After the great naval 
battle, Stanley found friendly tribes who informed him the river, the 
Lualaba, which he had named the Livingstone, was surely the Congo, or 
the River of Congo. Here was a great geographical secret now dis- 
closed, and success seemed certain. It was attained, but at a great price, 
as we shall see. More battles followed the peaceful days ; then the 
friendly tribes were again met with, and so on, until the warfare with 
man ceased, and the struggle with the Congo began in earnest. 

There are fifty-seven cataracts and rapids in the course of the river 
fi"om Nyangwe to the ocean, a distance of eighteen hundred miles. One 
portion of one hundred and eighty miles took the explorers five months. 
The high cliffs and the dangerous banks required the greatest caution to 
pass, and had Stanley not determined to cling to the river ; had he led 
his men by land past the cataract region, he would have done better, as 
the events prove. During that terrible passage he lost precious lives, 
including the brave Pocock and Kalulu— the black boy. 




(412) 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 413 

March 12th found them in a wide reach of the river, named Stanley 
Pool, and below that they " for the first time heard the low and sullen 
thunder of the Livingstone Falls." From this date the river was the 
chief enemy, and at the cataracts the stream flows " at the rate of thirty 
miles an hour!" The canoes suffered or were lost in the " cauldron," 
and portages became necessary. The men were hurt also ; even Stanley 
had a fall, and was half stunned. There were sundry workers, and 
seventeen canoes remaining on 27th of March. The descent was made 
along shore below Rocky Island Falls, and in gaining the camping-place 
Kalulu, in the "Crocodile" canoe, was lost. This boat got into mid- 
stream, and went gliding over the smooth, swift river to destruction. 
Nothing could save it or its occupants. It whirled round three or four 
times, plunged into the depths, and Kalulu and his canoe-mates were no 
more. Nine men, including others in other canoes, were lost that day. 
"A Groan of Horror Burst From Us.'* 

Says Stanley : " I led the way down the river, and in five minutes was 
in a new camp in a charming cove, with the cataract roaring loudly about 
500 yards below us. A canoe came in soon after with a gleeful crew, 
and a second one also arrived safe, and I was about congratulating 
myself for having done a good day's work, when the long canoe which 
Kalulu had ventured in was seen in mid-river, rushing with the speed of 
a flying spear towards destruction. A groan of horror burst from us as 
we rushed to the rocky point which shut the cove from view of the 
river. When we had reached the point, the canoe was half-way over the 
iirst break of the cataract, and was then just beginning that fatal circling 
in the whirlpool below. We saw them signalling to us for help; but alas! 
what could we do there, with a cataract between us ? We never saw 
them more. A paddle was picked up about forty miles below, which we 
identified as belonging to the unfortunate coxswain, and that was all." 

Stanley felt this loss keenly, for he loved Kalulu almost like a younger 
brother. The boy had been presented to him by the Arabs of Unyan- 
yembe on the occasion of his first visit there in search of Livingstone. 
He was then a mere child, but very bright and quick for one of his race 
and age. Stanley took him to the United States where he attended 
school eighteen months, and rapidly developed into an intelligent and 
quick-witted youth. When Stanley was preparing for his second expe- 
dition Kalulu begged to be allowed to accompany him, and he cheer- 
fully granted his request. His untimely death made so deep an impres- 
sion upon Stanley that he named the fatal cataract Kalulu Falls in honor 
of his memory. 



414 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Three out of the four men contained in the boat were especial favor- 
ites of Stanley. They had been deceived by the smooth, glassy appear- 
ance of the river, and had pulled out boldly into the middle of it, only 
to meet a dreadful fate. Even while they gazed upon the spot where the 
frail craft was last seen upon the edge of the brink, another canoe came 
into sight, and was hurried on by the swift current towards the yawning 
abyss. As good fortune would have it, they struck the falls at a point 
les.s dangerous than that struck by the unfortunate Kalulu, and passed 
them in safety. Then they worked the canoe closer to the shore, and 
springing overboard, swam to the land. If those yet to come were to be 
deceived by the appearance of the river, Stanley saw that he was destined 
to lose the greater part of his men. In order to prevent so sad a calam- 
ity, he sent messengers up the river to tell those yet to come down to 
keep close to the shore. Before they had time to reach those above, 
another canoe shot into sight, and was hurried on to the edge of the 
precipice. It contained but one person — the lad Soudi, who, as he shoj: 
by them, cried out : " There is but one God — I am lost, master." The 
next instant he passed over the falls. The canoe, after having passed the 
falls, did not sink, but was whirled round and round by the swift current, 
and was at last swept out of sight behind a neighboring island. The 
remainder of the canoes succeeded in reaching the camp in safety. 
Miraculous Rescue of Soudi. 

The natives at this point proved very friendly, and exchanged provis- 
ions for beads and wire. Having obtained all the provisions that they 
could conveniently carry, they prepared to start, and on the first of April 
succeeded in passing round the dangerous falls, when they again went 
into camp. A great surprise awaited them here. They had scarcely 
pitched their tents, when to their great surprise Soudi suddenly walked 
into the camp. It was as though one had indeed risen from the dead, 
and for a few minutes they codld scarcely realize that it was the real 
Soudi that they beheld, and not his ghost. Great was their joy when the 
lad assured them that it was himself and not his spirit that they saw. 

Seated around their camp they listened to the strange tale that the boy 
had to tell him. He had been carried over the falls, and when he reached 
the bottom he was somewhat stunned by the shock, and did not fully 
recover his senses until the boat struck against a large rock ; he then 
jumped dut and swam ashore. He had hardly placed his foot upon the 
land before he was seized by two men, who bound him hand and foot, 
and carried him to the top of a large mountain near by. They then 
stripped him, and examined him with great curiosity. On the day fol- 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA, 415 

lowing, a large number of the tribe who dwelt upon the mountain came 
to see him, and among them was one who had previously visited Stan- 
ley's camp, and knew that Soudi was attached to his force. 

He told them great stories about Stanley, how terrible he was, and 
what strange arms he carried, which were so arranged that they could be 
fired all day without stopping, and ended by telling them that if they 
wished to escape his fury, they had b^etter return the boy to the place 
from which tlircy had taken him. Terrified by such tales, these men at 
once carried Soudi to the place where they had found him, and after 
having told him to speak a good word for them to his master, departed. 
He at once swam across the stream, stopping occasionally upon the rocks 
to rest, and succeeded at last in reaching the camp soon after it had been 
established. His captors, however, did not return to their people as he 
had supposed, but crossing the river at a point lower down, they soon 
after arrived at the camp and attached themselves to Stanley's force. 
A Jfative's Thrilling- Adventure. 

The dangers attending Stanley constantly in this great journey from sea 
to sea are strikingly illustrated by a mishap which befell one of his men 
in that part of the tour we are now describing. 

At one point there were many islands in the river, which often afforded 
Stanley refuge when attacked by the murderous natives. They appeared 
very beautiful, but the travellers could not enjoy their beauty, so frequent 
were the attacks made upon them. Stanley visited several villages, in 
which he says he found human bones scattered about, just as we would 
throw away oyster shells after we had removed the bivalves. Such 
sights as this did not tend to place the men in the most agreeable state 
of mind, for it seemed to them just as if they were doomed to a similar 
fate. 

On the following day they began to make preparations for passing the 
rapids which lay below them. In order to do this, he must first drive 
back the savages which lined the shore. Landing with thirty-six men, 
he succeeded in doing so, after which he was able to cut a passage three 
miles long around the falls. Stations were established at different points 
along the route, and before daylight the canoes were safely carried to the 
first of these. The savages then made an attack upon them, but were 
beaten off. At night the boats were carried to the next station, and the 
one following to the next, and so on, until at the end of seventy-eight 
hours of constant labor, and almost unceasing fighting, they reached the 
river. But they had gone but a short distance, when they found that 
just before them were a series of rapids extending two miles. These 



41G 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



being much smaller than those they had passed before, an attempt was 
made to float the boats down them. 

Six canoes passed the falls in safety, but the seventh was upset. One 
of the persons in it was a Negro named Zaidi, who, instead of swimming 
to the shore as the others did, clung to the boat and was hurried on to 
the cataract below him. The canoe did not, however, pass immediately 
over, but striking a rock which stood upon the very edge of the falls, it 
was split, one part passing over, while the other was jammed against the 
rock. To this Zaidi clung in terror, while the waves dashed angrily 




HEROIC RESCUE OF ZAIDI. 

around him. Instead of attempting to render assistance to the endan- 
gered man, the natives stood upon the shore and howled most unmerci- 
fully, and at last sent for Stanley. The latter at once set them at work 
making a rattan rope, by which he proposed to let a boat down to the 
man, into which he could get and be pulled ashore. 

But the rope proved too weak, and was soon snapped in twain and the 
boat carried over the falls. Other and stouter ropes were then laid up, 
three pieces of which were fastened to a canoe. But it was useless to 
send the boat out without some one to guide it to the place where Zaidi 
was, and Stanley looked about for volunteers. No one seemed inclined 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 417 

to undertake the dangerous job, until the brave Uledi quietly said, " I 
will go." And he did. Two of the cables attached to the boat were 
?held by men on the shore, while the third was to be used to enable the 
poor wretch upon the rock to reach the boat. Several efforts were made 
to place it within his reach, but each in turn failed. 

Man Over the Falls. 

At last, however, he grasped it, and orders were given for the boat to 
be pulled ashore. No sooner were the cables tightened than they snapped 
like small cords, and Zaidi was carried over the falls ; but holding 
on to the rope, he pulled the boat against the rock, in which position it 
^became wedged. Uledi pulled him up and assisted him into the boat, 
when they both scrambled upon the rock. A rope was thrown to them, 
but failed to reach the spot where theywere. This was repeated several 
times, until at last they succeeded in catching it. A heavy rope was then 
tied to it, which the men drew towards them and fastened to the rock, 
^and thus communication was established between those upon the rock 
and those upon the shore. By this time darkness shut in upon them, 
■ and they were forced to leave the men upon their wild perch, and wait 
for another day before attempting to get them off The next day they 
■succeeded in drawing them both to the shore. . 

On June 3d another accident occurred at Masassa whirlpool, which 

was more deplorable than all the others. Frank Pocock, who had been 

Stanley's mainstay and next in command to himself, attempted to shoot 

'the rapids against the advice of his experienced boatman, Uledi, who 

'was the bravest native connected with the expedition, though a Zanzibar 

freed man. 

Frank Pocock Drowned. 

Pocock was warned of the danger of such an undertaking, but with a 
ifashness quite unlike himself he ordered the canoe pushed out into the 
istream. As they approached nearer and nearer the mad breakers Frank 
realized his peril, but it was too late. They were soon caught in the 
ndreadful whirl of waters and sucked under with a mighty force sufficient 
to swallow up a ship. Pocock was an expert swimmer, but his art did 
not now avail him, for he was swept away to his death, though his eight 
^-companions saved themselves. 

The dreadful news was borne to Stanley by the brave Uledi. This 
last and greatest calamity, coming in the midst of his already heavy 
weight of woe, so overcame the great explorer that he wept bitter tears 
•of anguish. 

My brave, honest, kindly-natured Frank," he exclaimed, " have you 

27 



418 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

left me so ? Oh, my long-tried friend, what fatal rashness ! Ah, Uledi^ 
had you but saved him, I should have made you a rich man." 

Of the three brave boys who sailed away from England with Stanley 
to win the laurels of discovery in the unknown wilds of Africa, not one 
was left, but all were now slumbering for eternity, in that strange land,, 
where the tears of sorrowing friends and relatives could never moisten 
their rude beds of earth. 

Frank was gone ; and as Stanley mourned for him he could but feel 

with Burns, that 

"Dread Omnipotence alone 

Can heal the wound he gave, 
Can point the brimful grief-worn eyes 
To scenes beyond the grave." 

In their home, how dreadful must the news of Frank's death have 
been to his father and mother ! They had bade those darling boys fare- 
well, hoping that they would return in safety, but both had died in a 
strange land, and lay amid strange scenes, and they were left in loneli- 
ness to mourn. In his letter to them, Stanley says that F]rank had so 
won a place in his heart, that his death took away all joy and pleasure 
which otherwise he would have felt in being able to accomplish so :great- 
and arduous a task. . ' 

bearing the End of the Great Journey. 

We must now hurry on. The descent by river had cost Stanley 
Pocock, many of the natives, 18,000 dollars worth of ivory, twelve 
canoes, and a mutiny, not to mention grave anxiety and incessant cares 
and conflicts. After a weary time, nearly starved, the remainder of the 
expedition, reduced to 1 1 5 persons, sent on to Embomma a message for 
help and food. The letter was as follows : 

"Village Nsanda, August 4th, 1877. 
" To any gentleman who speaks English at Embomma. 

"Dear Sir: — I have arrived at this place from Zanzibar with one 
hundred and fifteen souls, men, women and children. We are now in a. 
state of imminent starvation. We can buy nothing from the natives, for 
they laugh at our kinds of cloth, beads and wire. There are no pro- 
visions in the country that may be purchased except on market-days, and 
starving people cannot afford to wait for these markets. I therefore have 
made bold to despatch three of my young men, natives of Zanzibar, with 
a boy named Robert, Ferugi, of the English mission at Zanzibar, with 
this letter, craving relief from you. I do not know you, but I am told 
there is an Englishman at Embomma, and as you are a Christian and a^ 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 41& 

gentleman, I beg of you not to disregard my request. The boy Robert, 
will be better able to describe our condition than I can tell you in a letter. 
We are in a state of great distress, but, if your supplies arrive in time, I 
may be able to reach Embomma in four days. I want three hundred 
cloths, each four yards long, of such quality as you trade with, which is 
very different from that we have ; but better than all would be ten or 
fifteen man-loads of rice or grain to fill their pinched bellies immediately, as 
even with the cloths, it would require time to purchase food, and starving 
men cannot wait. The supplies must arrive within two days, or I may 
have a fearful time of it among the dying. Of course I hold myself 
responsible for any expense you may incur in this business. What is 
wanted is immediate relief, and I pray you to use your utmost energies 
to forward it at once. For myself, if you have such little luxuries as tea, 
coffee, sugar and biscuits by you. such as one man can easily carry, I beg 
you, on my own behalf, that you will send a small supply, and add to the 
great debt of gratitude due to you upon the timely arrival of supplies for 
my people. Until that time, I beg you to believe me, 

" Yours sincerely, 

" H. M. Stanley, 

" Commanding Anglo-American Expedition for 
^^Exploration of Africa. 

" P. S. — You may not know my name ; I therefore add, I am the person 
that discovered Livingstone. 

" H. M. S." 
"O, Master, I am Ready!'* 

When the letter was finished, Stanley gathered his men around him, 
and told them that he intended to send to Embomma for food, and 
desired to know who among them would go with the guides and carry 
the letter. No sooner had he asked the question, than Uledi sprang for- 
ward, exclaiming, " O, master, I am ready ! " Other men also volun- 
teered, and on the next day they set out with the guides. 

Before they had got half way, the guides left them, and they had to 
find their way as best they could. Passing along the banks of the 
Congo, they reached the village soon after sunset, and delivered the 
letter into the hands of a kindly disposed person. For thirty hours the 
messengers had not tasted food, but they were now abundantly supplied. 
On the following morning — it was the 6th of August — they started to 
return, accompanied by carriers who bore provisions for the half-starving 
men, women, and children, with Stanley. 

Meanwhile, he and his weary party were pushing on as fast as their 



420 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

tired and wasted forms would let them. At nine o'clock in the morning, 
they stopped to rest. While in this situation, an Arab boy suddenly 
sprang from his seat upon the grass, and shouted : 
" I see Uledi coming down the hill !" 

Such was indeed the fact, and as the jaded men wearilyturned their 
eyes to the hill, half expecting to be deceived, they beheld Ulcdi and 
Kacheche running down the hill, followed by carriers loaded with pro- 
visions. It was a glad sight to them, and with one accord they shouted: 
''La il Allah, il Allah f" {''V\[q are saved, thank God!") Uledi was 
the first to reach the camp, and at once delivered a letter to his master. 
By the time Stanley had finished reading it, the carriers arrived with the 
provisions, and need we say that those half-starved people did them 
justice? Deeply grateful for the substantial answer to his letter, he 
immediately penned another, acknowledging their safe arrival. The 
letter ran as follows : 

" Dear Sirs : — Though strangers I feel we shall be great friends, and 
it will be the study of my lifetime to remember my feelings of grateful- 
ness when I first caught sight of your supplies, and my poor faithful and 
brave people cried out, ' Master, we are saved — food is coming ! ' The 
old and the young men, the women and the children lifted their wearied 
and worn-out frames and began lustily to chant an extemporaneous song 
in honor of the white people by the great salt sea (the Atlantic), who 
had listened to their prayers. I had to rush to my tent to hide the tears 
that would come, despite ^all my attempts at composure. 

" Gentlemen, that the blessing of God may attend your footsteps, 
whithersoever you go, is the very earnest prayer of 

" Yours faithfully, 

" Henry M. Stanley." 
Great Problems Solved. 

It was a daring undertaking — that of marching from one ocean to the 
other through the wilds of Africa — but it was done. The great feat 
was accomplished. The magnificent miracle was performed. Heroism 
and self-sacrifice had their sublime triumph. Perils and hardships beset 
the expedition from first to last. Mr. Stanley's own words can best 
describe them. 

" On all sides," he says, " death stared us in the face ; cruel eyes 
watched us by day and by night, and a thousand bloody hands were 
ready to take advantage of the least opportunity. We defended ourselves 
like men who knew that pusillanimity would be our ruin among savages 
to whom mercy is a thing unknown. I wished, naturally, that it might 



STANLEY'S PERILS IN CROSSING AFRICA. 421 

have been otherwise, and looked anxiously and keenly for any sign of 
forbearance or peace. My anxiety throughout was so constant, and the 
effects of it, physically and otherwise, have been such, that I now find 
myself an old man at thirty-five." 

As if to give force to this last statement, the President of the American 
Geographical Society says : " It will be remembered that, when we saw 
Mr. Stanley here in the Society, his hair was black ; it is now said to be 
nearly zvhite. Of the 350 men with whom he left 7j3sv7}hz.x in 1874, but 
115 reached the Atlantic coast, and 60 of those, when at the journey's 
end, were suffering from dysenteiy, scurvy and dropsy. He was on the 
Congo from November ist, 1876, to August nth, 1877 — a period of over 
nine months ; so that his promise to the native followers was fulfilled, 
that he would reach the sea before the close of the year." 

The historic Nile has given up the mystery of its source, and the Congo 
is no longer a puzzle, baffling the exploits of modern exploration. 

Stanley showed that the Lualaba is the Congo, and has opened up a 
splendid water-way into the interior of the Dark Continent, which the 
International Association has already fixed upon, and which rival 
explorers have already discussed with more or less acrimony. Stanley has 
put together the puzzle of which Burton, Speke, Livingstone, Baker, Du 
Chaillu, and Cameron provided pieces, and made the greatest geographi- 
cal discovery of the century — and of many centuries. We cannot limit 
the results which will accrue from this feat of Henry M. Stanley in cross- 
ing the Dark Continent, over which he has shed the light of civilization. 

Stanley was received with great ceremony in England, and almost 
every nation hastened to bestow its honors upon him. But among them 
all he singles out one, concerning which he says : " For another honor 1 
have to express my thanks — one which I may be pardoned for regarding 
as more precious than all the rest. The Government of the United States 
has crowned my success with its official approval, and the unanimous 
vote of thanks passed in both houses of legislature, has made me proud 
for life of the expedition and its success." * 



CHAPTER XIX. 
TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 

Stanley and Emin Pasha — Other Famous African Travellers— Achievements Almost 
Superhuman — Fascination of Tropical Explorations — Sir Samuel and Lady 
Baker— Lady Baker Determined to Accompany Her Husband — Discomforts of 
Travelling ia Africa — Intense Heat in the Nile Region — Barren Rocks and Sandy 
Wastes— Blue Sky Over a Blighted Land — The Wretched Town of Korosko — 
Searching for One of the Sources of the Nile — Arrival at Berber — Courtesies of 
an Ex-Governor — The Travellers Pitch Their Tents in a Garden — A Charming 
Oasis — Fine Looking Slaves From the White Nile — Slaves Well Cared for by 
Their Master — Description of a Beautiful Slave Girl— Guard of Turkish Soldiers — 
Fine River and Forest Game— Sudden Rise of the Nile— A Clew to One Part of 
the Nile Mystery — The Rainy Season Arrives — Interview With a Great Sheik — 
Venerable Arab on a Beautiful Snow-white Dromedary — Perfect Picture of a 
Desert Patriarch — Cordial Welcome to Baker and His Party — A Performance to 
Show the Sheik's Hospitality — Arrival at the Village of Sofi— On the Banks of 
the Atbara — The Travellers Living in Huts — ^A German in the Wilds of Africa — 
Man Killed by a Lion — Baker's Adventure With a River-horse— Savage Old 
Hippopotamus — Famous Arab Hunters — Wonderful Weapons — Story of the Old 
Arab and His Trap for the Hippopotamus — Capture of an Enormous Beast — 
Aggageers Hunting the Elephant — Thrilling Adventure of a Renowned Arab 
Hunter — An Elephant Dashing Upon His Foes Like an Avalanche — Fatal Blow 
of the Sharp Sword — Baker's Heroic Wife — Reason Why the Nile Overflows — An 
Ivory Trader — Baker Arrives at Khartoum — Romatic Beauty Destroyed by the 
Filth of a Miserable Town. . 

|EFORE following Stanley in his last great expedition for the relief 
of Emin Pasha, an undertaking which has again drawn toward 
him the eyes of the whole civilized world, we will turn our atten- 
tion to the extraordinary achievements and daring feats of other 
African travellers, whose renown is scarcely less than that of Stanley 
himself A brilliant galaxy of explorers shine resplendent in the firma- 
ment of modern discovery, and we come now to fresh tales of heroism 
and adventure worthy to rank with those already related. We are deal- 
ing with almost superhuman achievements, and the historic pages on 
which they are written have a fascination for every lover of brave deeds, 
heroic sacrifices, and deathless devotion to a great cause. 

Sir Samuel, then untitled Mr. Baker, was already an experienced 

traveller and a practiced sportsman, when in March, 1 86 1, having resolved 

to devote his energies to the discovery of one of the sources of the Nile, 

he set forth from England to proceed up the mysterious river from its 

(422) 



TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 423 

•?iiouth, inwardly determined to accomplish the difficult task or to die in 
the attempt. He had, however, shortly before married a young wife. 
She, with a devoted love and heroism seldom surpassed, notwithstanding 
'the dangers and difficulties she knew she must encounter, entreated to 
accompany her husband. 

Leaving Cairo on the 15 th of April, they sailed up the Nile. Soon 
the discomforts of travel became almost unbearable, as will be seen from 
the following entry, early in May, in Baker's journal : 

" No air. The thermometer 104 degrees ; a stifling heat. Becalmed, 
we have been lying the entire day below the ruins of Philse. These are 
the most imposing monuments of the Nile, owing to their peculiar situa- 
tion upon a rocky island that commands the passage of the river above 
the cataract. The banks of the stream are here hemmed in by ranges of 
hills from 100 to 250 feet high ; these are entirely destitute of soil, being 
■composed of enormous masses of red granite, piled block upon block^ 
the rude masonry of Nature that has walled in the river. 
Barren Rocks and Sandy Wastes. 

" The hollows between the hills are choked with a yellow sand, which, 
drifted by the wind, has, in many instances, completely filled the narrow 
valleys. Upon either side of the Nile are vestiges of ancient forts. The 
land appears as though it bore the curse of Heaven ; misery, barrenness, 
and the heat of a furnace, are its features. The glowing rocks, devoid 
■of a? trace of vegetation, reflect the sun with an intensity that must be 
felt to be understood. The miserable people who dwell in villages upon 
the river's banks snatch every sandbank from the retiring stream, and im- 
mediately plant their scanty garden with melons, gourds, and lentils, this 
being their only resource for cultivation. Not an inch of available soil 
is lost ; but day by day, as the river decreases, fresh rows of vegetables 
are sown upon the newly-acquired land. At Assouan, the sandbanks are 
purely sand brought down by the cataracts, therefore soil must be added 
to enable the people to cultivate. They dig earth from the ruins of the 
ancient town ; this they boat across the river and spread upon the sand- 
bank, by which excessive labor they secure sufficient mold to support 
their crops. 

" In the vicinity of Philaae the very barrenness of the scenery possesses 
a charm. The iron-like sterility of the granite rocks, naked except in 
spots where the wind has sheeted them with sand ; the groves of palms 
springing unexpectedly into view in this desert wilderness, as a sudden 
bend of the river discovers a village ; the ever blue and never clouded 
^ky above, and, the only blessing of this blighted land, the Nile, silently 



424 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

flowinsf between its stern walls of rocks towards the distant land of 
Lower Egypt, form a total that produces a scene to be met with nowhere 
but upon the Nile. In this miserable spot the unfortunate inhabitants 
are taxed equally with those of the richer • districts — about ten cents, 
annually for each date palm." 

When the party had been twenty-six days on the river they reached 
Korosko. At this wretched spot the Nile is dreary beyond description, 
as a vast desert, unenlivened by cultivation, forms its borders, through 
which the melancholy river rolls towards Lower Egypt in the cloudless 
glare of a Tropical sun. Whence came this extraordinary stream that 
could flow through these burning sandy deserts, unaided by tributary 
channels? That was the mysterious question as they stepped upon the 
shore now, to commence a land journey in search of the distant: 
sources. They climbed the steep sandy bank, and sat down beneath a. 
solitary sycamore. 

A "Wretched Place. 

Korosko is not rich in supplies. A few miserable Arab huts, with the 
usual fringe of dusty date palms, compose the village ; the muddy river 
is the frontier on the west, the burning desert on the east. Thus hemmed 
in, Korosko is a narrow strip of a few yards width on the margin of the 
Nile, with only one redeeming feature in its wretchedness — the green 
shade of the old sycamore beneath which they sat. 

Baker says : " I had a firman from the Viceroy, a cook, and a drago- 
man. Thus, my outfit was small. The firman was an order to all Egyp- 
tian officials for assistance ; the cook was dirty and incapable ; and the 
interpreter was nearly ignorant of English, although a professed polyglot. 
With this small beginning, Africa was before me, and thus I commenced 
the search for one of the sources of the Nile." 

From* Korosko the travellers crossed the Nubian Desert on camels, 
with the simoon in full force and the heat intense, to Berber. Here Mr. 
Baker, finding his want of Arabic a great drawback, resolved to devote 
a year to the study of that language, and to spend the time in the com- 
paratively known regions to the north of Abyssinia, while he explored 
the various confluences of the Blue Nile. 

Berber is a large town, and in appearance is similar to the Nile towns 
of Lower Egypt, consisting of the usual dusty, unpaved streets, and flat- 
roofed houses of sun-baked bricks. It is the seat of a Governor or 
Mudir, and is generally the quarters for about 1,500 troops. Says Baker; 
•' We were very kindly received by Halleem Effendi, the ex-Governor, 
who at once gave us permission to pitch the tents in his garden, close to 




(425) 



426 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the Nile, on the southern outskirt of the town. After fifteen days of 
desert marching, the sight of a well-cultivated garden was an Eden in 
our eyes. About eight acres of land, on the margin of the river, were 
thickly planted with lofty date groves, and shaded citron and lemon trees, 
beneath which we reveled in luxury on our Persian rugs, and enjoyed 
complete rest after the fatigue of our long journey. 

Beautiful Garden. 

" Countless birds were chirping and singing in the trees above us ; 
innumerable ring-doves were cooing in the shady palms ; and the sudden 
change from the deadly sterility of the 'desert to the scene of verdure 
and of life produced an extraordinary effect upon the spirits. What 
caused this curious transition ? Why should this charming oasis, teem- 
ing with vegetation and with life, be found in the yellow, sandy desert ? 
Water had worked this change ; the spirit of the Nile, more potent than 
any genii of the Arabian fables, had transformed the desert into a fruit- 
ful garden. Halleem Effendi, the former Governor, had, many years 
ago, planted this garden, irrigated by numerous water-wheels ; and we 
now enjoyed the fruits, and thanked Heaven for its greatest blessings in 
that burning land, shade and coOl water." 

The garden of Halleem Effendi was attended by a number of fine, 
powerful slaves from the White Nile, whose stout frames and glossy 
skins were undeniable witness of their master's care. Here Baker and 
his party received visits from their host and the governor, as well as from 
other officers, who expressed ^heir astonishment when they announced 
their intention of proceeding to the head of the Nile. 

" Do not go on such an absurd errand," exclaimed Halleem Effendi, 
" Nobody knows anything about the Nile. We do not even know the 
source of the Atbara. While you remain within the territory of the 
Pacha of Egypt you will be safe ; but the moment you cross the frontier 
you will be in the hands of savages." 

Their host sent them daily presents of fruit by a charmingly pretty 
slave girl, whose numerous mistresses requested permission to pay the 
travellers a visit. 

In the cool hour of evening a bevy of ladies approached through the 
dark groves of citron trees, so gaily dressed in silks of the brightest dyes 
of yellow, blue and scarlet, that no bouquet of flowers could have been 
more gaudy. They were attended by numerous slaves, and the head 
servant politely requested Baker to withdraw during the interview. 
Some of these ladies were very young and pretty, and of course exercised 
■a certain influence over their husbands ; thus, on the following morning 




THE BEAUTIFUL SLAVE GIRL AT BERBER. 



(427) 



428 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the travellers were inundated with visitors, as the male members of the 
family came to thank them for the manner in which their ladies had been 
received ; and fruit, flowers, and the general produce of the garden were 
presented them in profusion. However pleasant, there were drawbacks 
to their Garden of Eden; there was dust in their Paradise — sudden 
clouds raised by whirlwinds in the desert, which fairly choked the ears 
and nostrils when thus attacked. June is the season when these phe- 
• nomena are most prevalent. At that time the rains have commenced in 
the south, and are extending toward the north; the cold and heavier air 
of the southern I'ain-clouds sweeps down upon the overheated atmos- 
phere of the desert, and produces sudden, violent squalls and whirlwinds 
when least expected, as at that time the sky is cloudless. 
Guard of Turkish Soldiers. 

After a week spent at this pleasant spot, they commenced their journey, 
attended by a guard of Turkish soldiers, who were to act in the double 
capacity of escort and servants. Their dragoman was called Mahomet, 
and the principal guide Achmet. The former, though almost black, 
declared that his color was of a light brown. As already stated, he spoke 
very bad English, was excessively conceited, and irascible to a degree. 
Accustomed to the easy-going expeditions on the Nile, he had no taste 
for the rough sort of work his new master had undertaken. The jour- 
ney across the desert tract was performed on donkeys, the luggage as 
well as some of the travellers, being carried on camels or dromedaries. 

In two days they reach^ the junction of the Atbara river with the 
Nile. Here, crossing a broad surface of white sand, which at that season 
formed the dry bed of the river, they encamped near a plantation of 
water-melons, with which they refreshed themselves and their tired don- 
keys. The river was here never less than four hundred yards in width, 
with banks nearly thirty feet deep. Not only was it partially dry, but so 
clear was the sand-bed that the reflection of the sun was almost unbear- 
able. 

Fine River and Forest Game. 

They traveled along the banks of the river for some days, stopping by 
the side of the pools which still remained. Many of these pools were 
full of crocodiles and hippopotami. One of these river-horses had lately 
killed the proprietor of a melon-garden, who had attempted to drive the 
creature from his plantation. Mr. Baker had the satisfaction of killing 
one of the monsters in shallow water. It was quickly surrounded by 
Arabs, who hauled it on shore, and, on receiving his permission to take 
the meat, in an instant a hundred knives were at work, the men fighting 



TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 429 

to obtain the most delicate morsels. He and his wife breakfasted that 
morning on hippopotamus flesh, which was destined to be their general 
food during their journey among the Abyssinian tributaries of the Nile. 
Game abounded, and he shot gazelles and hippopotami sufficient to keep 
the whole camp well supplied with meat. 

One day in June they were nearly suffocated by a whirlwind that 
buried everything in the tents several inches in dust. The heat was 
intense ; the night, however, was cool and pleasant. About half-past 
eight, as Mr. Baker lay asleep, he fancied that he heard a rumbling like 
distant thunder. The low uninterrupted roll increasing in volume, pres- 
ently a confusion of voices arose from the Arabs' camp, his men shout- 
ing as they rushed through the darkness : " The river ! the river ! " 

Mahomet exclaimed that the river was coming down, and that the 
supposed distant roar was the approach of water. Many of the people, 
who had been sleeping on the clean sand of the river's bed, were quickly 
awakened by the Arabs, who rushed down the steep bank to save the 
skulls of two hippopotami which were exposed to dry. 
Sudden Rise of tlie Nile. 

The sound of the torrent, as it rushed by amid the darkness, and the 
men, dripping with wet, dragging their heavy burdens up the bank, told 
that the great event had occurred. The river had arrived like a thief in 
the night. The next morning, instead of the barren sheet of clear white 
sand with a fringe of withered bush and trees upon its borders, cutting 
the yellow expanse of desert, a magnificent stream, the noble Atbara 
river flowed by, some five hundred yards in width, and from fifteen to 
twenty feet in depth. Not a drop of rain, however, had fallen; but the 
current gave the traveller a clue to one portion of the Nile mystery. 
The rains were pouring down in Abyssinia — these were the sources of 
the Nile. 

The rainy season, however, at length began, during which it was 
impossible to travel. The Arabs during that period migrate to the 
drier regions in the north. On their way they arrived in the neighbor- 
hood of the camp of the great Sheikh Achmet Abou Sinn, to whom Mr. 
Baker had a letter of introduction. Having sent it forward by Mahomet, 
in a short time the sheikh appeared, attended by several of his principal 
people. He was mounted on a beautiful snow-white dromedary, his' 
appearance being remarkably dignified and venerable. Although 
upwards of eighty years old, he was as erect as a lance, and of herculean 
stature ; a remarkably arched nose, eyes like an eagle's, beneath large, 
-shaggy, but perfectly white eyebrows, while a snow-white beard of great 



430 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

thickness descended below the middle of his breast. He wore a large 
white turban, and a white cashmere robe reaching from the throat to the 
ankles. He was indeed the perfect picture of a desert patriarch. He 
insisted on the travellers accompanying him to his camp, and would hear 
of no excuses. Ordering Mahomet to have their baggage repacked, he 
requested them to mount two superb dromedaries with saddle-cloths of 
blue and purple sheep-skins, and they set out with their venerable host, 
followed by his wild and splendidly-mounted attendants. 
Cordial Welcome of a Great Slieikli. 

As they approached the camp they were suddenly met by a crowd of 
mounted men, armed with swords and shields, some on horses, others on 
dromedaries. These were Abou Sinn's people, who had assembled to do 
honor to their chief's guests. Having formed in lines parallel with the 
approach of their guests, they galloped singly at full speed across the 
line of march, flourishing their swords over their heads, and reining in 
their horses so as to bring them on their haunches by the sudden halt. 
This performance being concluded, they fell into line behind the party. 

Declining the sheikh's invitation to spend two or three months at his 
camp, Mr. and Mrs. Baker travelled on to the village of Sofi, where they 
proposed remaining during the rainy season. It was situated near the 
banks of the Atbara, on a plateau of about twenty acres, bordered on 
either side by two deep ravines, while below the steep cHff in front of the 
village flowed the river Atbara. Their tents were pitched on a level 
piece of ground just outside the village, where the grass, closely nibbled 
by the goats, formed a natural lawn. Here huts were built and some 
weeks were pleasantly spent. Mr. Baker found an abundance of sport, 
sometimes catching enormous fish, at others shooting birds to supply his 
larder, but more frequently hunting elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, and 
other large game. 

He here found a German named Florian, a stone-mason by trade, who 
had come out attached to the Austrian mission at Khartoum, but prefer- 
ring a freer life than that city afforded, had become a great hunter. Mr. 
Baker, thinking that he would prove useful, engaged him as a hunter, 
and he afterwards took into his service Florian's black servant Richarn, 
who became his faithful attendant. A former companion of Florian's, 
Johann Schmidt, soon afterwards arrived, and was also engaged by Mr. 
Baker to act as his lieutenant in his proposed White Nile expedition. 
Poor Florian, however, was killed by a lion, and Schmidt and Richarn 
alone accompanied him. 

Mr. Baker's skill as a sportsman was frequently called into play by the 



> . 




(431) 



432 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

natives, to drive off the elephants and hippopotami which infested their 
plantations. One afternoon he was requested to shoot a savage old bull 
hippopotamus which had given chase to several people. He rode to 
the spot, about two miles off, where the hippopotamus lived in a 
deep and broad portion of the river. The old hippopotamus was at 
home. 

The river, about two hundred and fifty yards wide, had formed by an 
acute bend a deep hole. In the centre of this was a sandbank just below 
the surface. Upon this shallow bed the hippotamus was reposing. On 
perceiving the party he began to snort and behave himself in a most 
absurd manner, by shaking his head and leaping half way out of the 
water. Mr. Baker had given Bacheet and other attendants rifles, and had 
ordered them to follow on the bank. He now directed one to fire several 
shots at the hippopotamus, in order if possible, to drive the animal 
towards him. The hippo, a wicked, solitary, old bull, returned the insult 
by charging towards Bacheet with a tremendous snorting, which sent 
him scrambling up the steep bank in a panic. This gave the brute con- 
fidence ; and the sportsman, who had hitherto remained concealed, called 
out according to Arabic custom : " Hasinth I JiasintJi f the Arabic for 
hippopotamus. The brute, thinking no doubt that he might as well 
drive the intruder away, gave a loud snort, sank, and quickly reappeared 
about a hundred yards from him. On this Mr. Baker ordered Bacheet 
to shoot to attract the animal's attention. As the hippopotamus turned 
his head, Mr. Baker took a steady shot, aiming behind the ear, and im- 
mediately the saucy old hippo turned upon his back and rolled about, 
lashing the still pool into waves, until at length he disappeared. 
Famous Arab Hunters. 

His intention of engaging a party of the Hamran Arabs, celebrated as 
hunters, to accompany him in his explorations of the Abyssinian rivers 
having become known, several of these men made their appearance at 
Sofi. They are distinguished from the other tribes of Arabs by an extra 
length of hair, worn parted down the centre and arranged in long curls. 
They are armed with swords and shields, the former having long, straight, 
two-edged blades, with a small cross for the handle, similar to the long, 
straight, cross-handled blades of the crusaders. Their shields, formed 
of rhinoceros, giraffe, or elephant-hide, are either round or oval. Their 
swords, which they prize highly, are kept as sharp as razors. The length 
-of the blade is about three feet, and the handle six inches long. It^ is 
secured to the wrist by a leathern strap, so that the hunter cannot by any 
-accident be disarmed. 



TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 433 

These men go in chase of all' wild animals of the desert ; some are 
noted as expert hippopotamus slayers, but the most celebrated are the 
Aggageers, or elephant hunters. The latter attack the huge animal 
either on horseback, or on foot when they cannot afford to purchase 
steeds. In the latter case, two men alone hunt together. They follow 
the tracks of an elephant which they contrive to overtake about noon, 
when the animal is either asleep or extremely listless and easy to approach. 
Should the elephant be asleep, one of the hunters will creep towards its 
head, and with a single blow sever the trunk stretched on the ground, the 
result being its death within an hour from bleeding. Should the animal 
be awake, they will creep up from behind, and give a tremendous cut at 
the back sinew of the hind leg, immediately disabling the monster. It is 
followed up by a second cut on the remaining leg, when the creature 
becomes their easy prey. 

When hunting on horseback, generally four men form a party, and 
they often follow the tracks of a herd from their drinking-place for 
upwards of twenty miles. Mr. Baker accompanied them on numerous 
hunting expeditions, and witnessed the wonderful courage and dexterity 
they displayed. 

After spending three months at Soft, he set out for the Settite River, 
he and his wife crossing the Atbara River on a raft formed of his large 
circular sponging bath supported by eight inflated skins secured to his 
bedstead. 

An Old Arab's Trap for the River-horse. 

A party of the Aggageers now joined him. Among them was Abou 
Do, a celebrated old hippopotamus hunter, who, with his spear of trident 
shape in hand, might have served as a representative of Neptune. The 
-old Arab was equally great at elephant hunting, and had on the previous 
day exhibited his skill, having assisted to kill several elephants. He now 
divested himself of all his clothing, and set out, taking his harpoon in 
hand, in search of hippopotami. 

This weapon consisted of a steel blade about eleven inches long and 
three-qarters of an inch in width, with a single barb. To it was attached 
a strong rope twenty feet long, with a float as large as a child's head at 
the extremity. Into the harpoon was fixed a piece of bamboo ten feet 
long, around which the rope was twisted, while the buoy was carried on 
the hunter's left hand. 

After proceeding a couple of miles, a herd of hippopotami were seen in 
a pool below a rapid surrounded by rocks. He, however, remarking that 
they were too wide-awake to be attacked, continued his course down the 

28 



434 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



stream till a smaller pool Was reached. Here the immense head .of a 
hippopotamus was seen, close to a perpendicular rock that formed a wall, 
to the river. The old hunter, motioning the travellers to remain quiet,, 
immediately plunged into the stream and crossed to the opposite 
bank, whence, keeping himself under shelter, he made his way directly^ 
towards the spot beneath which the hippopotamus was lying. Stealthily 




THE OLD ARAB ATTACKING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

he approached, his long thin arm raised, with the harpoon ready to 
strike. 

The hippopotamus, however, had vanished, but far from exhibiting sur- 
prise, the veteran hunter remaining standing on the sharp ledge, un- 
changed in attitude. No figure of bronze could be more rigid than that 
of the old river king, as he thus stood, his left foot advanced, his right 



TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 435 

hand grasping the harpoon above his head, and his left the loose coil of 
rope attached to the buoy. 

Three minutes thus passed, when suddenly the right arm of the statue 
descended like lightning, and the harpoon shot perpendicularly into 
the pool with the speed of an arrow. In an instant an enormous pair of 
open jaws appeared, followed by the ungainly head and form of a furious 
hippopotamus, who, springing half out of the water, lashed the river into 
foam as he charged straight up the violent rapids. With extraordinary 
power he breasted the descending stream, gaining a footing in the rapids 
where they were about five feet deep, thus making his way, till, landing 
from the river, he started at a full gallop along the shingly bed, and dis- 
appeared in the thorny jungle. No one would have supposed that so 
unwieldly an animal could have exhibited such speed, and it was fortu- 
nate for old Neptune that he was secure on the high ledge of rock, for 
had he been on the path of the infuriated beast, there would have been 
an end of Abou Do. 

Tremendous Snorting" and Roaring'. 

The old man rejoined his companions, when Mr. Baker proposed 
going in search of the animal. The hunter, however, explained that 
het hippopotamus would certainly return after a short time to the 
water. In a few minutes the animal emerged from the jungle and 
descended at full trot into the pool where the other hippopotami had 
been seen, about half a mile off. Upon reaching it, the party were 
immediately greeted by the hippopotamus, who snorted and roared 
and quickly dived, and the float was seen running along the surface, 
showing his course as the cork of a trimmer does that of a pike when 
hooked. 

Several times the hippo appeared, but invariably faced them, and, as 
Mr. Baker could not obtain a favorable shot, he sent the old hunter 
across the stream to attract the animal's attention. The hippo, turning 
towards the hunter, afforded Mr. Baker a good chance, and he fired a 
steady shot behind the ear. The crack of the ball, in the absence of 
any splash from the bullet, showed him that the hippopotamus was hit, 
while the float remained stationary upon the surface, marking the spot 
where the grand old bull lay dead beneath. The hunter obtaining assis- 
tance from the camp, the hippopotamus, as well as another which had 
been shot, were hauled on shore. The old bull measured fourteen feet 
two inches, and the head was three feet one inch from the front of the 
ear to the edge of the lip in a straight line. 

Though hippopotami are generally harmless, solitary old bulls are 



436 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

sometimes extremely vicious, and frequently attack canoes without 
provocation. 

Many of the elephant hunts in which Mr. Baker engaged were 
exciting in the highest degree, and fraught with great danger. 

Among the Aggageers was a hunter, Rodur Sherrif, who, though his 
arm had been withered in consequence of an accident, was as daring as 
any of his companions. 

Furious Combat. 

The banks of the Royan had been reached, where, a camp having 
been formed, Mr. Baker and his companions set out in search of 
elephants. A large bull elephant was discovered drinking. The country 
around was partly M^oody, and the ground strewed with fragments of 
rocks, ill adapted for riding. The elephant had made a desperate charge, 
scattering the hunters in all directions, and very nearly overtaking Mr, 
Baker. He then retreated into a stronghold composed of rocks and 
uneven ground, with a few small leafless trees growing in it. The scene 
must be described in the traveller's own words : 

" Here the elephant stood facing the party like a statue, not moving a 
muscle beyond the quick and restless action of the eyes, which were 
watching on all sides. Two of the Aggageers getting into its rear by a 
wide circuit, two others, one of whom was the renowned Rodur Sherrif, 
mounted on a thoroughly-trained bay mare, rode slowly toward the ani- 
mal. Coolly the mare advanced towards her wary antagonist until within 
about nine yards of its head. The elephant never moved. Not a word 
was spoken. The perfect stillness was at length broken by a snort from 
the mare, who gazed intently at the elephant, as though watching for the 
moment of attack. Rodur coolly sat with his eyes fixed upon those of 
the elephant. 

"With a shrill scream the enormous creature then suddenly dashed on 
him like an avalanche. Round went the mare as though upon a pivot, 
away over rocks and stones, flying like a gazelle, with the monkey- like 
form of Rodur Sherrif leaning forward and looking over his left shoul- 
der as the elephant rushed after him. For a moment it appeared as if 
the mare must be caught. Had she stumbled, all would have been lost, 
but she gained in the race after a few quick bounding strides, and Rodur, 
still looking behind him, kept his distance, so close, however, to the 
creature, that its outstretched trunk was within a few feet of the mare's 
tail. 

" The two Aggageers who had kept in the rear now dashed forward 
close to the hind quarters of the furious elephant, who, maddened with 




(437) 



438 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the excitement, heeded nothing but Rodur and his mare. When close to 
the tail of the elephant, the sword of one of the Aggageers flashed 
from its sheath as, grasping his trusty blade, he leaped nimbly to the 
ground, while his companion caught the reins of his horse. Two or 
three bounds on foot, with the sword clutched in both hands, and he 
was close behind the elephant. A bright glance shone like lightning 
as the sun struck on the descending steel. This was followed by a dull 
crack, the sword cutting through skin and sinew, and sinking deep into 
the bone about twelve inches above the foot. At the next stride the ele- 
phant halted dead short in the midst of his tremendous charge. The 
Aggageer who had struck the blow vaulted into the saddle with his 
naked sword in hand. At the same moment Rodur turned sharp round 
and, again facing the elephant, stooped quickly from the saddle to pick 
up from the ground a handful of dirt, which he threw into the face of 
the vicious animal, that once more attempted to rush upon him. It was 
impossible ; the foot was dislocated and turned up in front like an old 
shoe. In an instant the other Aggageer leaped to the ground, and again 
the sharp sword slashed the remaining leg." 

Nothing, could be more perfect than the way in which these daring 
hunters attack their prey. " It is difficult to decide which to admire 
more — whether the coolness and courage of him who led the elephant, 
or the extraordinary skill and activity of the Aggageer who dealt the 
fatal blow." 

Thus, hunting and exploring, Mr. Baker, accompanied by his heroic 
wife, visited the numerous river-beds which carry the rains of the moun- 
tainous regions of Abyssinia into the Blue Nile, and are the cause of the 
periodical overflowing of the mighty stream, while its ordinary current is 
fed from other far-distant sources, towards one of which the traveller now 
prepared to direct his steps. 

Speke and Grant were at this time making their way from Zanzibar, 
across untrodden ground, towards Gondokoro. An expedition under 
Petherick, the ivory-trader, sent to assist them, had met with misfortune 
and been greatly delayed, and Mr. Baker therefore hoped to reach the 
equator, and perhaps to meet the Zanzibar explorers somewhere about 
the sources of the Nile. 

Proceeding along the banks of the Blue Nile, Mr, and Mrs. Baker 
reached Khartoum oh the nth of June, 1862, which they found to be 
a filthy and miserable town. 



CHAPTER XX. 
THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 

The Immense Region of the Soudan — Remarkable Character of "Chinese" Gor- 
don — A Man Made of Damascus Steel — A Warrior arid Not an Explorer — Mr. 
and Mrs. Baker Crossing the Nubian Desert — Hardships of a Long Camel Jour- 
ney — The Romance of a Desert Journey Destroyed — Travelling Through a 
Furnace — A Nubian Thunder Storm — Bakers Description of a Camel Ride — A 
Humorous Experience — "Warranted to Ride Easy" — Extraordinary Freak of 
Nature — Thorns Like Fish-hooks — Camel Plunging Into the Thorn Bushes— An 
African Scorpion — Water Six Inches Deep in the Tents — The Explorers Pressing 
Forward — The Party That Left Khartoum — The Carpenter Johann — Sickness 
and Death of Poor Johann — Celebrated Tribe of Blacks — Very Cheap Style of 
Dress — Traits of the Neuhr Tribe — Ludicrous Attempt to Get Into Shoes — Mode 
■of Salutation— Mosquitoes in Africa — Visit from a Chief and His Daughter — 
Leopard Skin and Skull Cap of White Beads — Men Tall and Slender — Puny 
Children— An Indolent and Starving People — Herds of Cattle — Sacred Bull 
With Ornamented Horns — How a Prussian Baron Lost His Life — Termination 
of the Voyage — Appearance of the Country — The Explorers Looked Upon 
With Suspicion — Native Dwellings — The Perfection of Cleanliness — Huts With 
Projecting Roofs and Low Entrances — The Famous Bari Tribe — Warlike and 
Dangerous Savages — Story of an Umbrella — Systematic Extortion — Stories of 
Two Brave Boys. 

R. AND MRS. BAKER were now in the eastern part of that 
large desert region in Northern Africa which goes by the name 
of the Soudan, This immense tract has lately been brought 
into prominence by the wonderful exploits and extraordinary 
'heroism of General Gordon — " Chinese " Gordon, as he was called by 
•reason of achievements in China, which have given him remarkable fame. 
He was a bold, strong character, a man of uncommon nerve and endur- 
■ance, one who took a high moral view of the work in which he was 
engaged, whose conscientiousness could not be doubted, whose tact and 
•perseverance were conspicuous — a man who was a kind of religious hero, 
■raised up for a certain great work, and who fell before it was fully accom- 
plished. His name will go down to all generations. He was a silent 
man, very much wrapped up within himself, somewhat stern in his dispo- 
sition, whose nature was apparently made of Damascus steel, and who, 
•although possessed of gentle qualities and much beloved by those who 
inew him best, was yet a man to be dreaded when not obeyed. 

** Chinese " Gordon was not an explorer. He did not partake of the 

(439) 




440 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

character of Stanley, Baker, Livingstone, and others. Yet he succeeded 
in gaining a very strong hold upon the sympathies and the admiration of 
not only the English people, but of all civilized nations. He was a man 
to awaken enthusiasm and admiration, and the heroic sacrifice which he 
finally made of himself places a fitting climax upon his marvellous career. 
It is true that geographical discovery has had its great heroes ; it is also 
true that the attempts of European nations to carry their commerce, their 
arms, their modes of ' government, into the benighted Continent of Africa, 
have had heroes none the less brilliant. 

It will be interesting to the reader to continue the journey through the 
wilds of Abyssinia which lie upon the borders of the Soudan; in fact, the 
Soudan may be said to include this vast region, which in itself is a Trop- 
ical wonder. 

We have already seen that Mr. and Mrs. Baker crossed the Nubian 
desert. This in itself was a formidable undertaking, for the dreary desert 
is the greatest obstacle to exploration southward into the region of Cen- 
tral Africa. 

This dreary tract we must cross, otherwise we can have no adequate 
idea of the hardships of the explorer's life, the difficulties and discour- 
agements he meets with at the very outset, and the surprising contrast 
between his experiences in the earlier and in the later stages of his 
progress. His voyage up the Nile, under the ever clear and brilliant 
sky of Egypt, past the silent shapes of the temples, the sphinxes, the 
pyramids, and other gigantic monuments of a great past, and surrounded 
by the sights and sounds of Oriental life, has been a holiday trip to the. 
traveller bound lakewards. 

Hardships of a Long- Camel Klde. 

When he places his foot on the desert sand, and transfers his guns, his- 
tent, and other appurtenances of travel from the river-boat to the back of 
the " ship of the desert " which is to convey him across the Great Bend 
of the Nile from Korosko to Abu Hammed, the stern reality of his task 
begins. The first day's sun, reflected with overpowering force from the- 
fantastic cliffs and flinty sand of the Korosko Desert, probably burns out 
of him any romance that he may have entertained in connection with 
Nubian travel ; before the nearest halting-place is reached, the early 
delightful sense of the novelty of riding on camel-back has given place 
to a hearty detestation of the uneasy motion, the slow progress, and the 
abominable temper of that overlauded brute. 

Dr. Nachtigal, the celebrated African explorer, was once the guest of a. 
rich Hamburg merchant. The merchant's son, a young man of a some- 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. ' 441 

what sentimental temperament, said, among other things, that his dearest 
wish was to ride across the desert on the back of a camel. He thought 
such a ride must be very poetic indeed. " My dear young friend," 
replied the explorer, " I can tell you how you can get a partial idea of 
what riding a camel on the deserts of Africa is like. Take an office 
stool, screw it up as high as possible, and put it in a wagon without any 
springs, then seat yourself on the stool, and have it drawn over rocky 
and uneven ground, during the hottest weather of July or August, after 
you have not had anything to eat or drink for twenty-four hours, and 
then you will get a faint idea of how delightfully poetic it is to ride on a 
camel in the wilds of Africa." 

Travelling" Through a Furnace. 

Soon you are glad to abandon travel in the full blaze of day, with its 
blistering glare from rock and sand, the pitiless sun overhead, and the 
furnace-like breath of the desert air, and you march at night, when the 
earth is growing cool again, under the great stars. Here and there, as 
you descend into the bed of a " wady," or dry-water course, the eye is 
relieved for an instant by a patch of green verdure, a frightened gazelle 
dashes away to the shelter of the nearest sand-hills, or a glimpse is 
caught of a naked Arab youth tending his flock of goats ; for even the 
desert is not entirely void of plant and animal life, though every livings 
thing seems to partake of the arid nature and to bear the dusty colors of 
the surrounding waste. Even rain is not altogether unknown, and it is 
looked for at least once every winter season, although sometimes four 
years will pass without a fall. 

At these times the clouds that have drifted up from the distant Indian 
Ocean may be seen pitching their black tents about the summits of the 
mountain ridges that divide the Nile Valley from the Red Sea. The 
nomad Arab tribes, the only inhabitants of these thirsty hills, watch them 
with breathless hope. A north wind may blow during the night and 
drift them back whence they came. More likely they burst in thunder- 
storm — the whole of the storms of a season compressed into one furious 
onslaught of lightning and rain. The dry water-courses of yesterday 
are roaring torrents by morning, bearing down to the Nile a tribute of 
water for one day in the year at least. 

For one day also, or perhaps for some weeks, the earth and air are 
swept of their impurities, and the face of the desert begins to look fresh 
and verdant, as grass and plants spring up rapidly on every hand ; but 
then again the drought and the heat return, and nature withers more 
rapidly than it sprang to life. There are spots, however, well known to 




<442) 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 443 

•the Arab shepherd and camel- driver, where there are running water and 
^reen turf all the year round, or where, sheltered perhaps by the naked 
rocks of some deep ravine, a little oasis of palm and tamarisk trees is to 
be found. These are the halting-places on the march — the stepping- 
stones by means of which alone this howling wilderness may be crossed. 
Sometimes the wells fail, or are poisoned, or a predatory band occupies 
the springs; and then the unfortunate traveller has to face the peril of 
death from thirst or exhaustion as the fainting caravan is hurried forward 
to the next halting-place. In any case he is fervently thankful when the 
shining waters of the Nile come again into sight at Abu Hammed, and 
this doleful stage of his desert wandering is at a close. 

Baker's Description of a Camel Ride. * 

Our hero gives an interesting and withal humorous account of the 
experiences of himself and wife voyaging on the " ships of the desert." 
He says : When a sharp cut from the stick of the guide induces the 
camel to break into a trot, the torture of the rack is a pleasant tickling 
compared to the sensation of having your spine driven by a sledge-ham- 
mer from below, half a foot deeper into the skull. The human frame may 
be inured to almost anything ; thus the Arabs, who have always been 
accustomed to this kind of exercise, hardly feel the motion, and the por- 
tion of the body most subject to pain in riding a rough camel upon two 
bare pieces of wood for a saddle, becomes naturally adapted for such 
rough service, as monkeys become hardened from constantly sitting upon 
rough surfaces. 

The children commence almost as soon as they are born, as they must 
accompany their mothers in their annual migrations; and no sooner can 
the young Arab sit astride and hold on, than he is placed behind his 
father's saddle, to which he clings, while he bumps upon the bare back of 
the jolting camel. Nature quickly arranges a horny protection to the 
nerves by the thickening of the skin; therefore an Arab's opinion of the 
action of a riding camel should never be accepted without a personal 
trial. What appears delightful to him may be torture to you, as a strong 
breeze and a rough sea may be charming to a sailor, but worse than 
death to a landsman. 

'* Warranted to Ride Easy.'* 

I was determined not to accept the camels now offered until I had seen 
them tried ; I accordingly ordered our black soldier. El Baggar, to saddle 
the most easy-actioned animal for my wife ; but I wished to see him put 
it through a variety of paces before she should accept it. The delighted 
iEl Baggar, who from long practice was as hard as the heel of a boot, 



444 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

disdained a saddle ; the animal knelt, was mounted, and off he started at 
full trot, performing a circle of about fifty yards diameter, as though in a 
circus. I never saw such an exhibition ! " Warranted quiet to ride, of 
easy action, and fit for a lady !" This had been the character received 
with the rampant brute, which now, with head and tail erect, went tearing 
round the circle, screaming and roaring like a wild beast, throwing his 
forelegs forward, and stepping at least three feet high in his trot. Where 
was El Baggar ? 

A disjointed-looking black figure was sometimes on the back of this 
easy-going camel, sometimes a foot high in the air : arms, head, legs, 
hands appeared like a confused mass of dislocations ; the woolly hair of 
this unearthly individual, that had been carefully trained in long, stiff, 
narrow curls, precisely similar to the tobacco known as " negro-head," 
alternately started upright ejz masse as though under the influence of 
electricity, and then fell as suddenly upon his shoulders; had the dark 
individual been a " black dose," he or it could not have been more 
thoroughly shaken. 

This object, so thoroughly disguised by rapidity of movement, was El 
Baggar; happy, delighted El Baggar! As he came rapidly round 
towards us, flourishing his stick, I called to him, " Is that a nice drome- 
dary for the Sit (lady). El Baggar? Is it very easy?" He was almost 
incapable of a reply. " V-e-r-y e-e-a-a-s-y," replied the trustworthy 
authority, "j-j-j-just the thin-n-n-n-g for the S-i-i-i-t-t-t." "All right, 
that will do," I answered, and the jockey pulled up his steed. "Are the 
other camels better or worse than that ? " I asked. " Much worse," 
replied El Baggar ; " the others are rather tough, but this is an easy-goer, 
and will suit the lady well." 

An JExtraordinary Freak of Nature. 

It was impossible to hire a good dromedary; an Arab prizes his 
riding animal too much, and invariably refuses to let it to a stranger, but 
generally imposes upon him by substituting some lightly-built camel, 
that he thinks will pass muster ; I accordingly chose for my wife a steady- 
going animal from among the baggage-camels, trusting to be able to 
obtain a better one from the great sheikh, Abou Sinn, who was encamped 
upon the road we were about to take along the valley of the Atbara. 

Upon arriving at the highest point of the valley, we found ourselves 
upon the vast table-land that stretches from the Atbara to the Nile. At 
this season the entire surface had a faint tint of green, as the young shoots 
of grass had replied to the late showers of rain ; so perfect a level was 
this great tract of fertile country, that within a mile of the valley of the 




WILD Arab's swift ride. 



(445) 



446 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Atbara there was neither furrow nor water-course, but the escape of the 
rainfall was by simple soakage. As usual, the land was dotted with, 
mimosas, all of which were now bursting into leaf 

The thorns of the different varieties of these trees are an extraordinary 
freak of Nature, as she appears to have exhausted all her art in producing- 
an apparently useless arrangement of defence. The mimosas that are 
most common in the Soudan provinces are mere bushes, seldom exceeding 
sixteen feet in height; these spread out toward the top like mushrooms, 
but the branches commence within two feet of the ground ; they are 
armed with thorns in the shape of fish-hooks, which they resemble in. 
sharpness and strength. A thick jungle composed of such bushes is per- 
fectly impenetrable to any animals but elephants, rhinoceroses and buf- 
faloes, and should the clothes of a man become entangled in such thorns,, 
either they must give way or he must remain a prisoner. The mimosa 
that is known among the Arabs as the kittar, is one of the worst species, and 
is probably similar to that which caught Absalom by the hair ; this differs- 
from the well-known " wait-a-bit " of South Africa, as no milder nickname- 
could be applied than " dead-stop." Were the clothes of strong mate- 
rial, it would be impossible to break through a kittar-bush. 
Camel Pliing-ing- Into Tliorn Bushes. 

A magnificent specimen of a kittar, with a wide-spreading head in the- 
young glory of green leaf, tempted my hungry camel during our march ; 
it was determined to procure a mouthful, and I was equally determined 
that it should keep to the. straight path, and avoid the attraction of the 
green food. After some strong remonstrance upon my part, the perverse 
beast shook its ugly head, gave a roar, and started off in full trot straight 
at the thorny bush. I had not the slightest control over the animal, and 
in a few seconds it charged the bush, with the mad intention of rushing 
either through or beneath it. To my disgust, I perceived that the wide- 
spreading branches were only just sufficiently high to permit the back of 
the camel to pass underneath. 

There was no time for further consideration ; we charged the bush ; I 
held my head doubled up between my arms, and the next moment I was 
on my back, half stunned by the fall. The camel-saddle lay upon the 
ground, my rifle, that had been slung behind, my coffee-pot, the burst 
water-skin, and a host of other appurtenances, lay around me in all direc- 
tions ; worst of all, my beautiful gold repeater lay at some distance from 
me, rendered entirely useless. I was as nearly naked as I could be ; a 
few rags held together, but my shirt was gone, with the exception of 
some shreds that adhered to my arms. I was, of course, streaming with, 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 



447 



blood, and looked much more as though I had been clawed by a leopard 
than as having simply charged a bush. The camel had fallen down with, 
the shock, after I had been swept off by the thorny branches. To this, 
day I have the marks of the scratching. 

Unless a riding-camel is perfectly trained, it is the most tiresome- 
animal to ride, after the first green leaves appear ; every bush tempts it 
from the path, and it is a perpetual fight between the rider and his beast 
throughout the journey. The Arab soldier who mounts his beast and 
darts away over the desert of sand does not encounter the obstacles that 
beset our path. 




VENOMOUS SCORPION. 

We shortly halted for the night, as I had noticed unmistakable signs- 
of an approaching storm. We quickly pitched the tents, grubbed up the 
root and stem of a decayed mimosa, and lighted a fire, by the side of 
which our people sat in a circle. Hardly had the pile begun to blaze, 
when a cry from Mahomet's new relative, Achmet, informed us that he 
had been bitten by a scorpion. Mahomet appeared to think this highly 
entertaining, until suddenly he screamed out likewise, and springing 
from the ground, he began to stamp and wring his hands in great agony ; 
he had himself been bitten, and we found that a whole nest of scorpions 



448 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

were in the rotten wood lately thrown upon the fire : in their flight from 
the heat they stung all whom they met. 

There was no time to prepare food ; the thunder already roared above 
us, and in a few minutes tlie sky, lately so clear, was as black as ink. I 
had already prepared for the storm, and the baggage was piled within 
the tent ; the ropes of the tents had been left slack to allow for the con- 
traction, and we were ready for the rain. It was fortunate that Ave were 
in order ; a rain descended with an accompaniment of thunder and light- 
ning, of a volume unknown to the inhabitants of cooler climates; for sev- 
eral hours there was almost an uninterrupted roar of the most deafening 
peals, with lightning so vivid that our tent was completely lighted up in 
the darkness of the night, and its misery displayed. Not only was the 
rain pouring through the roof, so that we were wet through as we 
crouched upon our angareps (stretchers), but the legs of our bedstead 
stood in more than six inches of water. 

Being as wet as I could be, I resolved to enjoy the scene outside the 
tent; it was cyrious in the extreme. Flash after flash of sharp forked 
lightning played upon the surface of a boundless lake ; there was not a 
foot of land visible, but the numerous dark bushes, projecting from the 
surface of the water, destroyed the illusion of depth that the scene would 
otherwise have suggested. The rain ceased ; but the entire country was 
flooded several inches deep, and when the more distant lightning flashed, 
as the storm rolled away, I saw the camels lying like statues built into 
the lake. On the following morning the whole of this great mass of 
water had been absorbed by the soil, which had become so adhesive and 
slippery that it was impossible for the camels to move ; we therefore 
waited for some hours, until the intense heat of the sun had dried the sur- 
face sufficiently to allow the animals to proceed. 
A Regiment of Scorpions. 

Upon striking the tent, we found beneath the volance, between the 
•crown and the walls, a regiment of scorpions ; the flood had doubtless 
destroyed great numbers within their holes, but these, having been dis- 
turbed by the deluge, had found an asylum by crawling up the tent 
walls : with great difficulty we lighted a fire, and committed them all to 
the flames. Mahomet made a great fuss about his hand, which was cer- 
tainly much swollen, but not worse than that of Achmet, who did not 
■complain, although during the night he had been again bitten on the leg 
by one of these venomous insects, that had crawled from the water upon 
iiis clothes. 

Our last chapter left Mr. and Mrs. Baker at Khartoum. As the gov- 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 449 

ernment of Soudan refused to supply Baker with properly-trained soldiers, 
the only men he could get for an escort were the barbarous ruffians of 
Khartoum, who had been accustomed all their lives to plunder in the 
White Nile trade; yet, such as they were, he was compelled to put up 
with them, though he would undoubtedly have done better had he gone 
without such an escort. The voyage alone to Gondokoro, the navigable 
limit of the Nile, was likely to occupy about fifty days, so that a large 
supply of provisions was necessary. 

Says Baker : To organize an enterprise so difficult that it had hitherto 
defeated the whole world required a careful selection of attendants, and I 
looked with despair at the prospect before me. The only men procurable 
for escort were the miserable cut-throats of Khartoum, accustomed to 
Tnurder and pillage in the White Nile trade, and excited not by the love 
of adventure but by the desire for plunder : to start with such men 
appeared mere insanity. An exploration to the Nile sources was a march 
through an enemy's country, and required a powerful force of well-armed 
men. For the traders there was no great difficulty, as they took the 
initiative in hositilities and had fixed camps as supply stations, but for 
an explorer there was no alternative but a direct forward march without 
any communications with the rear. 

The preparations for such a voyage are no trifles. I required forty-five 
armed men as escort, forty men as sailors, which, with servants, etc., 
raised my party to ninety-six. In the hope of meeting Speke and Grant's 
party, I loaded the boats with an extra quantity of corn. 
Tlie Carpenter Joliann. 

In all the detail, I was much assisted by a most excellent man whom 
I had engaged to accompany me as my head-man, a German carpenter, 
Johann Schmidt, I had formerly met him hunting on the banks of the 
Settite river, in the Base country, where he was purchasing living ani- 
mals from the Arabs, for a contractor to a menagerie in Europe ; he was 
an excellent sportsman, and an energetic and courageous fellow; per- 
fectly sober and honest, Alas 1 " the spirit was willing, but the flesh 
was weak," and a hollow cough, and emaciation, attended with hurried 
respiration, suggested disease of the lungs. 

Day after day he faded gradually, and I endeavored to persuade him 
not to venture upon such a perilous journey as that before me : nothing 
would persuade him that he was in danger, and he had an idea that the 
climate of Khartoum was more injurious than the White Nile, and that 
the voyage would improve his health. Full of good feeling, and a wish 
to please, he persisted in working and perfecting the various arrange- 

29 



450 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ments, when he should have been saving his strength for a severer 
trial. 

Soon afterward the German carpenter breathed his last. Baker gives 
an affecting account of his last moments : Johann is in a dying state, but 
sensible ; all his hopes, poor fellow, of saving money in my service and 
returning to Bavaria are past. I sat by his bed for some hours ; there 
was not a ray of hope ; he could speak with difficulty, and the flies 
walked across his glazed eyeballs without his knowledge. Gently bath- 
ing his face and hands, I asked him if I could deliver any message to his 
relatives. He faintly uttered, " I am prepared to die ; I have neither 
parents nor relations ; but there is one — she — " he faltered. He could not 
,finish his sentence, but his dying thoughts were with one he loved ; far, 
far away froqi this wild and miserable land, his spirit was transported to 
his native village, and to the object that made life dear to him. Did not 
a shudder pass over her, a chill warning at that sad moment when all 
was passing away ? I pressed his cold hand, and asked her name^ 
Gathering ]:iis remaining strength he murmured, " Krombach." Krom- 
bach was merely the name of his native village in Bavaria. 

" Es bleibt nur zu sterben." " Ich bin sehr dankbar.'' These were the 
last words he spoke, " I am very grateful." I gazd^ sorrowfully at his- 
attenuated figure, and at the now powerless hand that had laid low many 
an elephant and lion, in its day of strength ; and the cold sweat of death 
lay thick upon his forehead. Although the pulse was not yet still,. 
Johann was gone. 

I made a huge cross with my own hands from the trunk of a taniarind 
tree, and by moonlight we laid him in his grave in this lonely spot. 

"No useless coffin enclosed his breast, 
Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him ; 
But he lay like a pilgrim taking his rest, 
With his mantle drawn around him." 

This is a mournful commencement of the voyage. Poor fellow, I did all 
I could for him although that was but little ; and hands far more tender 
than mine ministered to his last necessities. 

Celebrated Tribe of Blacks. 
Soon the expedition was saihng past the country inhabited by the 
Shillooks, the largest and most powerful' black tribe on the banks of the 
White Nile. They are very wealthy, and possess immense herds of cat- 
tle ; are also agriculturists, fishermen, and warriors. Their huts are 
regularly built, looking at a distance like rows of button mushrooms. 
They embark boldly on the river in their raft-like canoes, formed of the 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 



451 



excessively light ambatch-wood. The tree is of no great thickness, and 
tapers gradually to a point. It is thus easily cut down, and, several 
trunks being lashed together, a canoe is quickly formed. A war party 
on several occasions, embarking in a fleet of these rafts, have descended 
the river, and made raids on other tribes, carrying off women and chil- 
dren as captives, and large herds of cattle. 

Nothing can be more melancholy and uninteresting than the general 




NATIVES OF THE NILE REGION. 

appearance of the banks of the river. At times vast marshes alone could 
be seen, at others an immense expanse of sandy desert, with huge ant- 
hills ten feet high rising above them. 

While stopping at a village on the right bank, Baker received a visit 
from the chief of the Nuehr tribe and a number of his followers. 

Contrary to the usual custom, this tribe possesses land on both sides 
of the Nile, which in the midst of their territory spreads itself into a lake. 



452 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The Nuehr are a fine-looking race of savages, and very like savages they 
look. The men are tall, powerful, and well-formed, but their features 
approach the negro type, and are heavier and coarser than those of the 
tribes which have been previously mentioned. The women are not 
nearly so good-looking as the men, and are rather clumsily built. 

■ Very Cheap Style of Dress. 
■ Neither sex is much troubled with clothes. The males never wear any 
clothes at all ; nor do the females, until they are married, when they tie 
a fringe -of grass round their waists, some of the wealthier women being 
able to use a leathern fringe, of which they are very proud. Their orna- 
ments really seem to serve no other purpose but to disfigure the wearers 
as much as possible. Beginning with the head, the men stain their 
woolly hair of a dusty red by a mixture of which ashes form the chief 
part. They then take a sort of pipe-clay, and plaster it thickly into the 
hair at the back part of the head, dressing it up and shaping it until it is 
formed into a cone, the shape of the ornament varying according to the 
caprice of the individual. By means of this clay head-dress the hair is 
thrown back from the face, the expression of which is not improved by 
the horizontal lines that are tattooed across it. 

The natural glossy black of the skin, which has so pleasing an appear- 
ance, is utterly destroyed by a coating of wood ashes, which gives to the 
surface a kind of grayish look. On the upper arm they generally wear 
a large armlet of ivory, and have heavy coils of beads round their necks. 
The wrists are adorned with rings ©f copper and other ornaments, and on 
the right wrist they carry an iron ring armed with projecting blades, very 
similar to that which is worn by the Latookas. 

Joctian, the chief of the Nuehr tribe, was asked by Baker what was the 
use of this weapon, and by way of answer he simply pointed to his wife's 
arms and back, which were covered with scars produced by this primi- 
tive wife-tamer. He seemed quite proud of these marks, and evidently 
considered them merely as ocular proofs that his wife was properly sub- 
servient to her liusband. ,In common with the rest of his tribe, he had a 
small bag slung round his neck by way of a pocket, which held bits of 
wood, beads, and all kinds of trifles. He asked for everything he saw, 
and, when anything of small size was given him, it straightway went into 

the bag. 

Traits of the Nuehr Tribe. 

Still, putting aside these two traits of cruelty and covetousness, Joctian 
seems to have been a tolerably agreeable savage, and went away delighted 
with the presents he had received, instead of grumbling that he could 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 453 

not get more, as is the usual way among savage chiefs. It was rather 
strange that, although he was so charmed with beads and bracelets, he 
declined to accept a knife, saying that it was useless to him. He had in 
his hands a huge pipe, holding nearly a quarter of a pound of tobacco. 
Every Nuehr man has one of these pipes, which he always carries with 
him, and, should his supply of tobacco be exhausted, he lights a piece of 
charcoal, puts it into his pipe, and inhales the vapor that it draws from 
the tobacco-saturated bowl. 

The women are not so much adorned as the men, probably because 
the stronger sex prefer to use the ornaments themselves. At a little dis- 
tance the women all look as if they were smoking cigarettes. This odd 
appearance is caused by a strange ornament which they wear in their 
upper lip. They take a piece of iron wire, about four inches in length, 
and cover it with small beads. A hole is then pierced in the upper lip, 
and the ornament inserted, so as to project forward and rather upward. 

The Nuehr are very fond of beads, and are glad to exchange articles 
of food for them. One kind of bead, about the size and shape of a pig- 
eon's egg, is greatly valued by them ; and, when Mr. Petherick was 
travelling through their country, he purchased an ox for eight such 
beads. The chief came on board the boat, and, as usual, asked for 
everything he saw. 

Ludicrous Attempt to Get Into Slices. 

Among other odd things he set his affections on Mr. Petherick's shoes, 
which, as they were nearly Avorn out, were presented to him. Of course 
they were much too small for him, and the attempts which he made to 
put them on were very amusing. After many failures, he determined on 
taking them home, where he thought he might be able to get them on 
by greasing his feet well. 

When the chief entered the cabin, and saw the Avonders of civilized 
life, he was quite overcome with the novel grandeur, and proceeded, to 
kneel on one knee, in order to give the salutation due to a great chief 
"Grasping my right hand, and turning up the palm, he quietly spat into 
it, and then, looking into my face, he deliberately repeated the process. 
Staggered at the man's audacity, my first impulse was to knock him 
down, but, his features expressing kindness only, I vented my rage by 
returning the compliment with all possible interest. His delight seemed 
excessive, and, resuming his seat, he expressed his conviction that I must 
be a great chief Similar salutes followed with each of his attendants, and 
friendship was established." This strange salutation extends through 
many of the tribes that surround the Nuehr. 



454 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

• Sailing on day after day, with marshes and dead flats alone in sight, 
mosquitoes preventing rest even in the day, Baker and his party at 
length arrived at the station of a White Nile trader, where large herds of 
cattle were seen on the banks. 

Visit From a Chief and His Daughter. 

They were here visited by the chief of the Kytch tribe and his daughter, a 
■ girl of about sixteen, better looking than most of her race. The father wore 
a leopard-skin across his shoulder, and a skull-cap of white beads, with a 
crest of white ostrich feathers. But this mantle was the only garment 
he had on. His daughter's clothing consisted only of a piece of dressed 
hide hanging over one shoulder, more for ornament than use, as the rest 
of her body was entirely destitute of covering. The men, though tall, 
were wretchedly thin, and the children mere skeletons. 

While the travellers remained here, they were beset by starving crowds, 
bringing small gourd shells to receive the expected corn. The natives, 
indeed, seem to trust entirely to the productions of nature for their sub- 
sistence, and are the most pitiable set of savages that can be imagined, 
their long thin legs and arms giving them a peculiar gnat-like appearance. 
They devour both the skin and bones of dead animals. The bones are 
pounded between stones, and, when reduced to powder, boiled to form a 
kind of porridge. 

It is remarkable that in every herd they have a sacred bull, who is 
supposed to have an influence over the prosperity of the rest. His horns 
are ornamented with tufts of feathers, and frequently with small bells, 
and he invariably leads the great herd to pasture. 

A short visit was paid to the Austrian mission stationed at St. Croix, 
which has proved a perfect failure — indeed, that very morning it was sold 
to an Egytian for ;^I50. It was here the unfortunate Baron Harnier, a 
Prussian nobleman, was killed by a buffalo which he had attacked in the 
hopes of saving the life of a native whom the buffalo had struck down. 
Termination of the Voyage. 

The voyage terminated at Gondokoro on the 2d of February. The 
country is a great improvement to the interminable marshes at the lower 
part of the river, being raised about twenty feet above the water, while 
distant mountains relieve the eye, and evergreen trees, scattered in all 
directions, shading the native villages, form an inviting landscape. A 
few miserable grass huts alone, however, form the town, if it deserves 
that name. 

A large number of men belonging to the various traders were assem- 
bled here, who looked upon the travellers with anything but friendly 



THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE NILE. 455 

eyes. As Mr. Baker heard that a party were expected at Gondokoro 
from the interior with ivory in a few days, he determined to await their 
arrival, in hopes that their porters would be ready to carry his baggage. 
In the meantime he rode about the neighborhood, studying the place and 
people. 

The native dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness. The domicile 
of each family is surrounded by a hedge of euphorbia, and the interior of 
the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered. Upon this 
•cleanly-swept surface are one or more huts, surrounded by granaries of 
neat wicker-work, thatched, and resting upon raised platforms. The 
huts have projecting roofs, in order to afford a shade, and the entrance is 
usually about two feet high. 

The natives are of the Bari tribe. They are a warlike and dangerous 
tribe, being well armed and capable of using their weapons, so that a 
traveller who wishes to pass safely through their land must be able to 
show an armed front. When Captains Speke and Grant passed through 
their country, an umbrella was accidentally left behind, and some of the 
:men sent to fetch it. The Bari, however, drew up in battle array, evi- 
■denty knowing that without their leaders the men might be safely 
•bullied, so that the umbrella was left to the mercies of the Bari chief. 

Owing to their position on the Nile, they do a great business in the 
slave trade, for as far as Gondokoro, the capital of the Bari country, 
steamers have been able to ascend the river. Consequently, every party 
of strangers is supposed — and mostly with truth — to be a slaving expe- 
dition, and is dreaded by one part of the population, while it is courted 
by the other. The quarrelsome disposition of the Bari has often brought 
them into collision with the traders, and, as might be imagined, the 
superior arms and discipline of the latter have given them such a superi- 
ority, that the Bari are not as troublesome as they used to be. Still, they 
are always on the watch for an opportunity of extortion, and, if a traveller 
even sits under a tree, they will demand payment for its shade. 

Unpleasant as these Bari are in their ordinary state, they can be trained 
into good and faithful attendants, and are excellent material for soldiers. 
On one occasion, when a large party had attacked a body of traders, 
killed the standard-bearer, and nearly carried off the standard itself, a 
young Bari boy came to the rescue, shot with his pistol the man who 
was carrying off the standard, snatched it from him, and took it safely to 
liis master. 




CHAPTER XXI. 
IN A WILD COUNTRY. 

Attempts to Shoot Baker— Desperate Mutiny in Camp— Notable Arrival— Meeting^ 
Grant and Speke— The Little Black Boy from Khartoum— Fresh Plot Among- 
• Baker's Men — Disarming the Conspirators — Heroism in the Face of Danger — 
Mutinous Turks Driven Over a Precipice — Horrible Fate of Deserters— Exciting: 
Elephant Hunt — March Through Beautiful Hunting Grounds — Thrilling Encoun- 
ter — The Huge Beast Turning on His Foes — Cowardly Followers— Elephant 
Nearly Caught — Wild Beasts Screaming Like a Steam Whistle — Tales of Narrow- 
Escapes — African and Indian Elephants — Elephants in War— The Explorers at 
Obbo— Crafty Old Chief— Trouble to Get Rain— Spirited Dance of Obbos— 
Trying to Trade Wives — Satanic Escort — Grotesque Parade — Serious Illness of 
Mrs. Baker — Beautiful Landscape — Travelling in Canoes — Storm on the Lake — 
Tropical Hurricane — Dangers of the Lake Tour — The Explorers Advancing: 
Under Difficulties — Continued Attacks of Fever — Life Endangered by Travelling 
in the Tropics. 

UR traveller was looked upon at Gondokoro with suspicion. Sev- 
eral attempts were made to shoot him, and a boy was killed by sl 
shot from the shore, on board his vessel. His men were imme- 
diately tampered with by the traders, and signs of discontent sooni 
appeared among them. They declared that they had not sufficient meat^ 
and that they must be allowed to make a razzia upon the cattle of the 
natives to procure oxen. This demand being refused, they became more 
insolent, and accordingly Mr. Baker ordered the ringleader, an Arab, to 
be seized and to receive twenty-five lashes. 

Upon approaching to capture the fellow, most of the men laid down 
their guns and, seizing sticks, rushed to his rescue. Mr. Baker, on this^ 
sprang forward, sent their leader by a blow of his fist into their midst^ ' 
and then, seizing him by the throat, called for a rope to bind him. The 
men, still intent on their object, surrounded Mr. Baker, when Mrs. Baker, 
landing from the vessel, made her way to the spot. Her sudden appear- 
ance caused the mutineers to hesitate, when Mr. Baker shouted to the 
drummer-boy to beat the drum, and then ordered the men to fall in. 
Two-thirds obeyed him, and formed in line, while the remainder retreated 
with their ringleader. 

At this critical moment Mrs. Baker implored her husband to forgive 
the mutineer, if he would kiss his hand and beg his pardon. This com- 
promise completely won the men, who now called upon their ringleader 
(456) 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 457 

to apologize, and all would be right. This he did, and Mr, Baker made 
them rather a bitter speech and dismissed them. This, unhappily, was 
only the first exhibition of their mutinuous disposition, which nearl5r 
ruined the expedition, and might have led to the destruction of the trav- 
ellers. 

Notable Arrival. 

A few days afterwards guns were heard in the distance, and news came 
that two white men had arrived from " the sea " ! They proved to be 
Grant and Speke, who had just come from the Victoria Nyanza. Both, 
looked travel-worn. Speke, who had walked the whole distance from 
Zanzibar, was excessively lean, but in reality in good tough condition. 
Grant's garments were well-nigh worn out, but both of them had that 
fire in the eye which showed the spirit that had led them through many 
dangers. 

They had heard of another lake to the westward of the Nyanza, known 
as the Luta Nzige, which Speke felt convinced was a second source of 
the Nile. Accordingly, he and Grant having generously furnished him 
with as perfect a map as they could produce, Baker determined to explore 
the lake, while his friends, embarking in his boats, sailed down the Nile 
on their voyage homeward. 

His men, notwithstanding the lesson they had received, still exhibited 
a determined mutinous disposition, and in every way neglected their 
duties. Happily for him, he had among his attendants a little black 
boy, Saati, who, having been brought as a slave from the interior, had 
been for a time in the Austrian mission, from which, with many other 
slaves, he was turned out. Wandering about the streets of Khartoum, 
he heard of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, and, making his way to their house, 
threw himself at the lady's feet, and implored to be allowed to follow 
them. Hearing at the mission that he was superior to his juvenile com- 
panions, they accepted his services, and, being thoroughly washed, and 
attired in trousers, blouse, and belt, he appeared a different creature. 
From that time he considered himself as belonging entirely to Mrs. 
Baker, and to serve her was his greatest pride. She in return endeavored 
to instruct him, and gave him anecdotes from the Bible, combined with, 
the first principles of Christianity. 

" Down With Your Guns This Moment ! " 

Through the means of young Saati, Mr. Baker heard of a plot among^ 
the Khartoum escort, to desert him with their arms and ammunition, and 
to fire at him should he attempt to disarm them. The locks of their 
guns had, by his orders, been covered with pieces of mackintosh. Direct- 



458 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ing Mrs. Baker to stand behind him, he placed outside his tent, on his 
travelling bedstead, five double-barrelled guns loaded with buck-shot, a 
Tevolver, and a naked sabre. A sixth rifle he kept in his own hands, 
while Richarn and Saati stood behind him with double-barrelled guns. 

He then ordered the drum to beat, and all the men to form in line of 
marching order while he requested Mrs. Baker to point out any man 
who should attempt to uncover his lock when he gave the order to lay 
down their arms. In the event of the attempt being made, he intended 
to shoot the man immediately. At the sound of the drum only fifteen 
assembled. He then ordered them to lay down their arms. This, with 
insolent looks of defiance, they refused to do. 

" Down with your guns this moment ! " he shouted. 

At the sharp click of the locks, as he quickly capped the rifle in his 
Jhand, the cowardly mutineers widened their line and wavered ; some 
retreated a few paces, others sat down and laid their guns on the ground, 
while the remainder slowly dispersed, and sat in twos or singly under 
the various trees about eighty paces distant. On advancing they capi- 
tulated, agreeing to give up their arms and ammunition on receiving a 
written discharge. They were immediately disarmed. The discharge 
'was made out, when upon each paper Mr. Baker wrote the word " muti- 
neer" above his signature. Finally, nearly the whole of the escort 
deserted, taking service with the traders. 

Heroism in the Face of Danger. 

Not to be defeated, Baker obtained a Bari boy as interpreter, deter- 
mined at all hazards to start from Gondokoro. A party of traders under 
one Koorshid, who had lately arrived from Latooka and were about to 
return, not only refused to allow the travellers to accompany them, but 
declared their intention of forcibly driving them back, should they attempt 
to advance by their route. This served as an excuse to the remainder of 
Jiis escort for not proceeding. Saati discovered another plot, his men 
having been won over by Mahomet Her, another trader. 

Notwithstanding the danger he was running, Mr. Baker compelled his 
men to march, and by a clever manoeuvre got ahead of the party led 
by Ibrahim, Koorshid's guide. Finally, by wonderful tact, assisted by 
Mrs. Baker, he won over Ibrahim, and induced him to render him all the 
assistance in his power. 

Aided by his new friend, he arrived at TarrangoUe, one of the princi- 
pal places in the Latooka country, a hundred miles from Gondokoro, 
"which, though out of his direct route, would, he hoped, enable him 
with great ease finally to reach Unyoro, the territory of Kamrasi. In 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 459 

the meantime, however, several of his men had deserted and joined 
Mahomet Her. He had warned them that they would repent of their 
folly. His warnings were curiously fulfilled. 

News soon arrived that Mahomet Her, with a party of a hundred and 
ten armed men, in addition to three hundred natives, had made a raid 
upon a certain village among the mo-untains for slaves and cattle. Hav- 
ing succeeded in burning the village and capturing a number of slaves, 
as they were re-ascending the mountain to obtain a herd of cattle they 
had heard of, they were attacked by a large body of Latookas, lying in 
ambush among the rocks on the mountain side. 
Driven Over a Precipice. 

In vain the Turks fought ; every bullet aimed at a Latooka struck a 
rock, while rocks, stones, and lances were hurled at them from all sides 
and from above. Compelled to retreat, they were seized with a panic, 
and took to flight. Hemmed in by their foes, who showered lances and 
stones on their heads, they fled down the rocky and perpendicular 
ravines. Mistaking their road, they came to a precipice from which 
there was no retreat. 

The screaming and yelling savages closed round them. All was use- 
less ; not an enemy could they shoot, while the savages thrust them for- 
ward with wild yells to the very verge of a precipice five hundred feet 
high. Over it they were driven, hurled to destruction by the mass of 
Latookas pressing onward. A few fought to the last ; but all were at 
length forced over the edge of the cliff, and met the just reward of their 
atrocities. No quarter had been given, and upwards of two hundred of 
the natives who had joined the slave-hunters in the attack, had fallen 
with them. 

Mahomet Her had not accompanied his party, and escaped, though 
utterly ruined. The result of this catastrophe was highly beneficial to 
Mr. Baker. 

" Where are the men who deserted me ? " he asked of those who still 
remained with him. 

Without speaking, they brought two of his guns covered with clotted 
blood mixed with sand. Their owners' names were known to him by 
the marks on the stocks. He mentioned them. 

" Are they all dead ? " he asked. 

" All dead," the men replied. 

" Food for the vultures," he observed. " Better for them had they 
remained with me and done their duty." He had before told his men 
that the vultures would pick the bones of the deserters. 



460 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Notwithstanding the dangers of his position, Mr. Baker frequently 
went out shooting, and, among other animals, he killed an enormous ele- 
phant. He was among the well-known Latooka tribe, whose fantastic 
funeral dance has been described in a previous chapter. 

Baker gives the following graphic account of his adventures in pursuit 
of the game in which this part of Africa abounds : 

I started at 5 a. m. with my three horses and two camels, the latter 
carrying water and food. After a march of two or three hours through 
the beautiful hunting-grounds formed by the valley of Latooka, with its 
alternate prairies and jungles, I came upon the tracks of rhinoceros,, 
giraffes, and elephants, and shortly moved a rhinoceros, but could get 
no shot, owing to the thick bush in which he started and disappeared 
quicker than I could dismount. After a short circuit in search of the 
rhinoceros, we came upon a large herd of buffaloes, but at the same 
moment we heard elephants trumpeting at the foot of the mountains. 
Not wishing to fire, lest the great game should be disturbed, I contented 
myself with riding after the buffaloes, wonderfully followed on foot by 
Adda, one of my men, who ran like a deer, and almost kept up to my 
horse, hurling his three lances successively at the buffaloes, but without 
success. 

Thrilling- Encounter. 

I had left the camels in an open plain, and returning from the gallop 
after the buffaloes, I saw the men on the camels beckoning to me in great 
excitement. Cantering towards them, they .explained that a herd of bull 
elephants had just crossed an open space, and had passed into the jungle 
beyond. There was evidently abundance of game ; and calling my men 
together, I told them to keep close to me with the spare horses and rifles,, 
while I sent the Latookas ahead to look out for the elephants : we fol- 
lowed at a short distance. 

In about ten minutes we saw the Latookas hurrying towards us, and 
almost immediately after, I saw two enormous bull elephants with 
splendid tusks about a hundred yards from us, apparently the leaders of 
an approaching herd. The ground was exceedingly favorable, being tol- 
erably open, and yet with sufficient bush to afford a slight cover. Pres- 
ently, several elephants appeared and joined the two leaders — there was 
evidently a considerable number in the herd, and I was on the point of 
dismounting to take the first shot on foot, when the Latookas, too eager,, 
approached the herd; their red and blue helmets at once attracted the 
attention of the elephants, and a tremendous rush took place, the whole 
herd closing together and tearing off at full speed. "Follow me!" I 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 



461 



hallooed to my men, and touching my horse with the spur, I intended to 
dash into the midst of the herd. 







Just at that instant, in his start, my horse slipped and fell suddenly 
upon his side, falling upon my right leg and thus pinning me to the 



462 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS, 

ground. He was not up to my weight, and releasing myself, I immedi- 
ately mounted my old Abyssinian hunter, " Tetel," and followed the 
tracks of the elephants at full speed, accompanied by two of the Latookas^ 
who ran like hounds. Galloping through the green but thornless bush^ 
I soon came in sight of a grand bull elephant, steaming along like a loco- 
motive engine straight before me. Digging in the spurs, I was soon 
within twenty yards of him ; but the ground was so unfavorable, being 
full of buffalo holes, that I could not pass him. In about a quarter of an 
hour, after a careful chase over deep ruts and gullies concealed in high 
grass, I arrived at a level space, and shooting ahead, I gave him a shoul- 
der shot. I saw the wound in a good place, but the bull rushed along 
all the quicker, and again we came into bad ground that made it unwise 
to close. However, on the first opportunity I made a dash by him, and 
fired my teft-hand barrel at full gallop. He slackened his speed, but I 
could not halt to reload, lest I should lose sight of him in the high grass 
and bush. 

The Huge Beast Faces His Foes. 

Not a man was with me to hand a spare rifle. My cowardly fellows,, 
although light-weights and well mounted, were nowhere ; the natives 
were outrun, as of course was Richarn, who, not being a good rider, had 
preferred to hunt on foot. In vain I shouted for the men ; and I followed 
the elephant with an empty rifle for about ten minutes, until he suddenly 
turned round, and stood facing me in an open spot in grass about nine 
or ten feet high. " Tetel" was a grand horse for elephants, not having 
the slightest fear, and standing fire like a rock, not even starting under 
the discharge of the heaviest charge of powder. I now commenced re- 
loading, when presently one of my men, Yaseen, came up upon my 
horse " Filfil." Taking a spare gun from him, I rode rapidly past the 
elephant, and suddenly reining up, I made a good shot exactly behind 
the bladebone. With a shrill scream the elephant charged down upon 
me like a steam-engine. In went the spurs. " Tetel " knew his work, 
and away he went over the ruts and gullies, the high dry grass whistling 
in my ears as we shot along at full speed, closely followed by the enraged 
bull for about two hundred yards. 

The elephant then halted; and turning the horse's head, I again faced 
him and reloaded. Just at this moment I heard the rush of elephants 
advancing through the green bush upon the rising ground above the 
hollow formed by the open space of high withered grass in which we 
were standing facing each other. My man Yaseen had bolted with his^ 
fleet horse at the first charge, and was not to be seen. 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 463^ 

Presently, the rushing sound increased, and the heads of a closely- 
packed herd of about eighteen elephants showed above the low bushes^ 
and they broke cover, bearing down directly upon me, both I and my 
horse being unobserved in the high grass. I never saw a rhore lovely^ 
sight; they were all bulls with immense tusks. Waiting until they were 
within twenty yards of me I galloped straight at them, giving a yell that 
turned them. Away they rushed up the hill, but at so great a pace, that 
upon the rutty and broken ground I could not overtake them, and they 
completely distanced me. " Tetel," although a wonderfully steady^ 
hunter, was an uncommonly slow horse, but upon this day he appeared 
to be slower than usual, and I was not at the time aware that he was 
seriously ill. 

Cowardly Followers, 

By following three elephants separated from the herd I came up to 
them by a short cut, and singling out a fellow with enormous tusks, I 
rode straight at him. Finjiing himself overhauled, he charged me with 
such qickness and followed me up so far, that it was with the greatest 
difficulty that I cleared him. When he turned, I at once returned to the 
attack; but he entered a thick thorny jungle through which, no horse 
could follow, and I failed to obtain a shot. 

I was looking for a path through which I could penetrate the bush, 
when I suddenly heard natives shouting in the direction where I had left 
the wounded bull. Galloping towards the spot, I met a few scattered 
natives ; among others, Adda. Aft^r. shouting for some time, at length 
Yaseen appeared upon my horse " Filfil ; " he had fled as usual when he 
saw the troop of elephants advancing, and no one knows how far he had 
ridden before he thought it safe to look behind him. With two mounted 
gun-bearers and five others on foot I had been entirely deserted through 
the cowardice of my men. 

The elephant that I had left as dying, was gone. One of the Latookas 
had followed upon his tracks, and we heard this fellow shouting in the 
distance. I soon overtook him, and he led rapidly upon the track 
through thick bushes and high grass. In about a quarter of an hour we 
came up with the elephant ; he was standing in bush, facing us at about 
fifty yards' distance, and im.mediately perceiving ws, he gave a saucy 
jerk with his head, and charged most determinedly. It was exceedingly 
difficult to escape, owing to the bushes which impeded the horse, while 
the elephant crushed them like cobwebs : however, by turning my horse 
sharp round a tree, I managed to evade him after a chase of about a hun- 
dred and fifty yards. 




(464) 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 465 

Disappearing in the jungle after his charge, I immediately followed 
"him. The ground was hard, and so trodden by elephants that it was 
■difficult to single out the track. There was no blood upon the ground, 
but only on the trees every now and then, where he had rubbed past 
them in his retreat. After nearly two hours passed in slowly following 
upon his path, we suddenly broke cover and saw him travelling very 
quietly through an extensive plain of high grass. The ground was gently 
inclining upwards on either side the plain, but the level was a mass of 
deep, hardened ruts, over which no horse could gallop. Knowing my 
friend's character, I rode up the rising ground to reconnoitre : I found it 
tolerably clear of holes, and far superior to the rutty bottom. My two 
mounted gun-bearers had now joined me, and far from enjoying the 
sport, they were almost green with fright, when I ordered them to keep 
■close to me and to advance. I wanted them to attract the elephant's 
-attention, so as to enable me to obtain a good shoulder shot. 
Elephant Screaming- Like a Steam Whistle. 

Riding along the open plain, I at length arrived within about fifty 
yards of the bull, when he slowly turned. Reining " Tetel " up, I imme- 
diately fired a steady shot at the shoulder. For a moment he fell upon 
his knees, but, recovering with wonderful quickness, he was in full charge 
upon me. Fortunately I had inspected my ground previous to the 
attack, and away I went up the inclination to my right, the spurs hard at 
work, and the elephant screaming with rage, gaining on me. 

My horse felt as though made of wood, and clumsily rolled along in a 
sort of cow-gallop ; — in vain I dug the spurs into his flanks, and urged 
him by rein and voice; not an extra stride could I get out of him, and 
he reeled along as though thoroughly exhausted, plunging in and out of 
the buffalo holes instead of jumping them. Hamed was on my horse 
■*' Mouse," who went three to " Tetel's " one, and instead of endeavoring 
to divert the elephant's attention, he shot ahead, and thought of nothing 
but getting out of the way. Yaseen, on " Filfil," had fled in another 
direction; thus I had the pleasure of being hunted down upon a sick and 
disabled horse. 

I kept looking round, thinking that the elephant would give in : — we 
had been running for nearly half a mile, and the brute was overhauling 
me so fast that he was within ten or twelve yards of the horse's tail, with 
his trunk stretched out to catch him. Screaming like the whistle of an 
engine, he fortunately so frightened the horse that he went his best, 
although badly, and I turned him suddenly down the hill and doubled 
back like a hare. The elephant turned up the hill, and entering the 

30 



466 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

jungle he relinquished the chase, when another hundred yards' ' run. 
would have bagged me. 

In a life's experience in elephant-hunting, I never was hunted for such 
a distance. Great as were " Tetel's " good qualities for pluck and steadi- 
ness, he had exhibited such distress and want of speed, that I was sure 
he failed through some sudden malady. I immediately dismounted, and 
the horse laid down, as I thought, to die. 

Whistling loudly, I at length recalled Hamed, who had still continued 
his rapid flight without once looking back, although the elephant was 
out of sight. Yaseen was, of course, nowhere ; but after a quarter of an 
hour's shouting and whistling, he reappeared, and I mounted " Filfil,'" 
ordering " Tetel " to be led home. 

The sun had just sunk, and the two Latookas who now joined me- 
refused to go farther on the tracks, saying, that the elephant must die 
during the night, and that they would find him in the morning. We 
were at least ten miles from camp ; I therefore fired a shot to collect my^ 
scattered men, and in about half an hour we all joined together, except 
the camels and their drivers, that we had left miles behind. 
Tales of ^Narrow Escapes. 

No one had tasted food since the previous day, nor had I drunk 
water, although the sun had been burning hot ; I now obtained some 
muddy rain water from a puddle, and we went towards home, where we 
arrived at half-past eight, everyone tired with the day's work. The 
camels came into camp about an hour later. 

My men were all now wonderfully brave ; each had some story of a 
narrow escape, and several declared that the elephants had run over 
them, but fortunately without putting their feet upon them. 

The news spread through the town that the elephant was killed ; and,, 
long before daybreak on the following morning, masses of natives had 
started for the jungles, where they found him lying dead. Accordingly,, 
they stole his magnificent tusks, which they carried to the town of Wak- 
kala, and confessed to taking all the flesh, but laid the blame of the ivory 
theft upon the Wakkala tribe. 

There was no redress. The questions of a right of game are ever pro- 
lific of bad blood, and it was necessary in this instance to treat the matter 
lightly. Accordingly, the natives requested me to go out and shoot 
them another elephant; on the condition of obtaining the meat, they 
were ready to join in any hunting expedition. 

The elephants in Central Africa have very superior tusks to those of 
Abyssinia. I had shot a considerable number in the Base country on. 




(467) 



468 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the frontier of Abyssinia, and few tusks were 30 lbs. weight ; those in 
the neighborhood of the White Nile average about 50 lbs. for each tusk 
of a bull elephant, while those of the females are about 10 lbs. I have 
seen monster tusks of 160 lbs., and one was in the possession of a trader 
that weighed 172 lbs. 

It is seldom that a pair of tusks are fac-simile. As a man uses the 
right hand in preference to the left, so the elephant works with a particu- 
lar tusk, which is termed by the traders " el Hadam " (the servant) ; this 
is naturally more worn than the other, and is usually about ten pounds 
lighter ; frequently it is broken, as the elephant uses it as a lever to 
uproot trees and to tear up the roots of various bushes upon which he 
feeds. 

Elephants in War. 

The African elephant is not only entirely different from the Indian 
species in his habits, but he also differs in form. 

There are three distinguishing peculiarities. The back of the African 
elephant is concave, that of the Indian is convex; the ear of the African 
is enormous, entirely covering the shoulder when thrown back, while the 
ear of the Indian variety is comparatively small. The head of the Afri- 
can has a convex front, the top of the skull sloping back at a rapid incli- 
nation, while the head of the Indian elephant exposes a flat surface a 
little above the trunk. The average size of the African elephant is larger 
than those of Ceylon, although I have occasionally shot monster rogues 
in the latter country, equal to anything that I have seen in Africa. 

The English forces in India were not slow in discovering the practical 
aid to be derived from this enormous beast. Its vast strength, its un- 
common intelligence, its spirit of obedience, its ability to swim the deep- 
est rivers and push through the thickest jungles, rendered it available for 
service where no other animal would have answered the purpose. 

Frequently, in India, guns have been transported on the backs of ele- 
phants, and have thus been carried where no gun-carriage could have 
made its way on account of the obstructions to travel. The cannon is 
strapped on the back of the huge beast, and might even be fired from 
that high perch, except for the difficulty the gunner finds in taking sure 
aim. 

The Explorers at Obho. 

It became dangerous for Baker to remain longer in the countiy, in 
consequence of the abominable conduct of the Turks in his party, which 
so irritated the natives that an attack from them was daily expected. 
They were therefore compelled to return to Obbo, the chief of which, old 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 469 

Katchiba, had before received them in a friendly manner. Here, in con- 
sequence of their exposure to wet, Mr. and Mrs. Baker were attacked 
with fever. By tliis time all their baggage animals as well as their horses 
had died. 

Katchiba laid claim to intercourse with the unseen world, and to 
authority over the elements ; rain and drought, calm and tempest, being 
supposed by his subjects to be equally under his command. Sometimes, 
if the country had been afflicted with drought beyond the usual time of 
rain, Katchiba would assemble his people, and deliver a long harangue, 
inveighing against their evil doings, which had kept off the rain. These 
evil doings, on being analyzed, generally proved to be little more than a 
want of liberality toward himself. He explained to them that he sin- 
cerely regretted their conduct, which " has compelled him to afflict them 
with unfavorable weather, but that it is their own fault. If they are so 
greedy and so stingy that they will not supply him properly, how can 
they expect him to think of their interests? No goats, no rain ; that's 
our contract, my friends," says Katchiba, " Do as you like: /can wait; 
I hope you can." Should his people complain of too much rain, he 
threatens to pour storms and lightning upon them forever, unless they 
bring him so many baskets of corn. Thus he holds his sway. 

Crafty Old Chief. 

No man would thmk of starting on a journey without the blessing of 
the old chief, and a peculiar " hocus-pocus " is considered necessary from 
the magic hands of Katchiba, that shall eharm the traveller, and preserve 
him from all danger of wild animals upon the I'oad. In case of sickness 
he is called in, not as M. D. in our acceptation, but as Doctor of Magic, 
and he charms both the hut and patient against death, with the fluctuat- 
ing results that must attend professionals, even in sorcery. His subjects 
have the- most thorough confidence in his power; and so great is his 
reputation, that distant tribes frequently consult him, and beg his assist- 
ance as a magician. In this manner does old Katchiba hold his sway 
over his savage but credulous people ; and so long has he imposed upon 
the public, that I believe he has at length imposed upon himself, and that 
he really believes that he has the power of sorcery, notwithstanding 
repeated failures. 

Once, while Baker was in the country, Katchiba, like other rain- 
makers, fell into a dilemma. There had been no rain for a long time, 
and the people had become so angry at the continued drought, that they 
assembled round his house, blowing horns, and shouting execrations 
against their chief, because he had not sent them a shower which would 



470 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

allow them to sow their seed. True to his policy, the crafty old man 
made light of their threats, telling them that they might kill him if they 
liked, but that, if they did so, no more rain would ever fall. Rain in the 
country was the necessary result of goats and provisions given to the 
chief, and, as soon as he got the proper fees, the rain should come. The 
rest of the story is so good, that it must be told in the author's own 
words. 

" With all this bluster," says Baker, " I saw that old Katchiba was in 
a great dilemma, and that he would give anything for a shower, but that 
he did not know how to get out of the scrape. It was a common freak 
of the tribes to sacrifice their rain-maker, should he be unsuccessful. He 
suddenly altered his tone, and asked, * Have you any rain in your coun- 
try ? ' I replied that we had every now and then. ' How do you bring 
it? Are you a rain-maker ? ' I told him that no one believed in rain- 
makers in our country, but that we knew how to bottle lightning (mean- 
ing electricity). ' I don't keep mine in bottles, but I have a house full of 
thunder and lightning,' he most coolly replied; ' but if you can bottle 
lightning, you must understand rain-making. What do you think of the 

weather to-day ? ' 

Trouble to Get Kain. 

"I immediately saw the drift of the cunning old Katchiba; he wanted 
professional advice. I replied that he must know all about it, as he was 
a regular rain-maker. 'Of course I do,' he answered; 'but I want to 
know what you think of it.' ' 'Well,' I said, ' I don't think we shall have 
any steady rain, but I think we may have a heavy shower in about four 
days' (I said this, as I had observed fleecy clouds gathering daily in the 
afternoon). ' Just my opinion,' said Katchiba, delighted. ' In four, or 
perhaps in five, days I intend to give them one shower — just one shower; 
yes, I'll just step down to them, and tell the rascals that if they will give 
me some goats by this evening, and some corn by to-morrow morning, I 
will give them in four or five days just one shower.' 

" To give effect to his declaration, he gave several toots on his magic 
whistle. ' Do you use whistles in your country ? ' inquired Katchiba. I 
only replied by giving so shrill and deafening a whistle on my fingers, 
that Katchiba stopped his ears, and, relapsing into a smile of admiration, 
he took a glance at the sky from the doorway, to see if any effect had 
been produced. ' Whistle again,' he said ; and once more I performed 
like the whistle of a locomotive. ' That will do ; we shall have it,' said 
the cunning old rain-maker ; and, proud of having so knowingly obtained 
* counsel's opinion ' in his case, he toddled off to his impatient subjects. 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 471 

In a few days a sudden storm of rain and violent thunder added to 
Katchiba's renown, and after the shower horns were blowing and nogaras 
beating in honor of their chief. Between ourselves, my whistle was 
considered infallible." 

When his guests were lying ill in their huts, struck down with the 
fever which is prevalent in hot and moist climates such as that of Obbo, 
Katchiba came to visit them in his character of magician, and performed 
a curious ceremony. He took a small leafy branch, filled his mouth 
with water, and squirted it on the branch, which was then waved about 
the hut, and lastly stuck over the door. He assured his sick guests that 
their recovery was now certain ; and, as they did recover, his opinion of 
his magical powers was doubtless confirmed. 

After their recovery they paid a visit to the chief, by his special desire, 
and were entertained in princely style. 

Spirited Dance of Obbos. 

Among other things the natives held a great consultation, and ended 
with a war-dance ; they were all painted in various patterns, with red 
ochre and white pipe-clay ; their heads adorned with very tasteful orna- 
ments of cowrie-shells, surmounted by plumes of ostrich feathers, which 
drooped over the back of the neck. After the dance, the old chief 
addressed them in a long and vehement speech ; he was followed by 
several other speakers, all of whom were remarkably fluent, and 
expressed their exceeding gratification on account of the visit of the 
curious foreigners. 

Mr. Baker purchased from the Turks some good riding oxen for him- 
self and his wife, and, having placed his goods under the care of old 
Katchiba and two of his own men, he set out in January, 1864, with a 
small number of attendants, to proceed to Karuma, the northern end of 
Xamrasi's territory, which Speke and Grant had visited. 

The Shooa country, through which he passed, is very beautiful, con- 
sisting of mountains covered with fine forests trees, and picturesquely 
dotted over with villages. Several portions presented the appearance of 
a park watered by numerous rivulets and ornamented with fine timber, 
while it was interspersed with rocks of granite, which at a distance looked 
like ruined castles. Here they found an abundance of food : fowls, 
butter, and goats were brought for sale. 

They had obtained the services of a slave woman called Bacheeta, 
belonging to Unyoro, and who, having learned Arabic, was likely to 
prove useful as an interpreter and guide. She, however, had no desire 
to return to her own country, and endeavored to mislead them, by taking 




(472) 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 473 

them to the country of Rionga, an enemy of Kamrasi. Fortunately, 
Mr. Baker detected her treachery, and he and his Turkish aUies reached 
the Karuma Falls, close to the village of Atada. 

A number of Kamrasi's people soon crossed the river to within parley- 
ing distance, when Bacheeta, as directed, explained that Speke's brother 
had arrived to pay Kamrasi a visit, and had brought him valuable 
presents. Kamrasi's people, however, showed considerable suspicion on 
seeing so many people, till Baker appeared dressed in a suit similar to 
that worn by Speke, when they at once exhibited their welcome, by 
dancing and gesticulating with their lances and shields in the most ex- 
travagant manner. The party, however, were not allowed to cross till 
permission was obtained from Kamrasi. 

Trying to Trade Wives. 

That very cautious and cowardly monarch sent his brother, who pre- 
tended to be Kamrasi himself, and for some time Baker was deceived, 
fully believing that he was negotiating with the king. Notwithstanding 
his regal pretensions, he very nearly got knocked down, on proposing that 
he and his guest should exchange wives, and even Bacheeta, understand- 
ing the insult which had been offered,. fiercely abused the supposed king. 

Baker's Obbo porters had before this deserted him, and he was now 
dependent on Kamrasi for others to supply their places. The king, 
however, ultimately became more friendly, and gave orders to his people 
to assist the stranger, granting him also permission to proceed westward 
to the lake he was so anxious to visit. 

A few women having been supplied to carry his luggage, he and his 
wife, with their small party of attendants, at length set out. 

Says Baker : The country was a vast flat of grass land interspersed 
with small villages and patches of sweet potatoes ; these were very in- 
ferior, owing to the want of drainage. For about two miles we continued 
on the bank of the Kafoor river; the women who carried the luggage 
were straggling in disorder, and my few men were much scattered in 
their endeavors to collect them. We approached a considerable village ; 
but just as we were nearing it, out rushed about six hundred men with 
lances and shields, screaming and yelling like so many demons. For the 
moment, I thought it was an attack, but almost immediately I noticed 
that women and children were mingled with the men. My men had not 
taken so cool a view of the excited throng that was now approaching us 
at full speed, brandishing their spears, and engaging with each other in 
mock combat. " There's a fight ! there's a fight!" my men exclaimed;. 
" we are attacked ! fire at them, Hawaga." 



474 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



However, in a few seconds, I persuaded them that it was a mere parade, 
and that there was no danger. With a rush, Hke a cloud of locusts, the na- 




tives closed around us, dancing, gesticulating, and yelling before us, 
feinting to attack us with spears and shields, then engaging in sham fights 
with each other, and behaving like so many madmen. A very tall chief 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 475 

accompanied them ; and one of their men was suddenly knocked down, 
and attacked by the crowd with sticks and lances, and lay on the ground 
covered with blood : what his offence had been I did not hear. The en- 
tire crowd were most grotesquely got up, being dressed in either leopard 
or white monkey skins, with cows' tails strapped on behind, and ante- 
lopes' horns fitted upon some of their heads, and carrying large shields 
and savage-looking spears. 

Altogether, I never saw a more unearthly set of creatures ; they were 
perfect illustrations of my childish ideas of devils — horns, tails, and all, 
excepting the hoofs ; they were our escort ! furnished by Kamrasi to ac- 
company us to the lake. Fortunately for all parties the Turks were not 
with us on that occasion, or the satanic escort would certainly have been 
received with a volley when they so rashly advanced to compliment us b" 
their absurd performances. 

We marched till 7 p.m. over flat, uninteresting" country, and then halted 
at a miserable village which the people had deserted, as they expected our 
arrival. The following morning I found much difficulty in getting our 
■escort together, as they had been foraging throughout the neighborhood ; 
these " devil's own " were a portion of Kamrasi's troops, who considered 
themselves entitled to plunder ad libitum throughout the march ; how- 
ever, after some delay, they collected, and their tall chief approached me, 
and beggcid that a gun might be fired as a curiosity. The escort had 
■crowded around us, and as the boy Saat was close to me, I ordered him 
to fire his gun!* This was Saat's greatest delight, and bang went one bar- 
rel unexpectedly close to the tall chiefs ear. The effect was charming^ 
The tall chief, thinking himself injured, clasped his head with both hands, 
and bolted through the crowd, which, struck with a sudden panic, rushed 
away in all directions, the " devil's own " tumbling over each other, and 
utterly scattered by the second barrel which Saat exultingly fired in 
derision as Kamrasi's warlike regiment dissolved before a sound. 
Serious Illness of Mrs. Baker. 

Mr. Baker, however, soon got rid of his satanic escort. Poor Mrs. 
Baker was naturally alarmed, fearing that it was the intention of the king 
to waylay them and perhaps carry her off. 

Soon after this, while crossing the Kafue river, the heat being exces- 
sive, what was Mr. Baker's horror to see his wife sink from her ox as 
though shot dead. He, with his attendants, carried her through the 
yielding vegetation, up to their waists in water, above which they could 
just keep her head, till they reached the banks. He then laid her under 
a tree, and now discovered that she had received a sunstroke. As there 




(476) 



IN A WILD COUNTRY. 477 

was nothing to eat on the spot, it was absolutely necessary to move on. 
A litter was procured, on which Mrs. Baker was carried, her husband 
mechanically following by its side. ■ For seven days continuously he thus 
proceeded on his journey. Her eyes at length opened, but, to his 
infinite grief, he found that she was attacked by brain fever. 

One evening they reached a village. She was in violent convulsions. 
He believed all was over, and, while he sank down insensible by her 
side, his men went out to seek for a spot to dig her grave. On awaken- 
ing, all hope having abandoned him, as he gazed at her countenance her 
chest gently heaved; she was asleep. When at a sudden noise she 
opened her eyes, they were calm and clear; she was saved. 

Having rested for a couple of days, they continued their course, Mrs. 
Baker being carried on her litter. At length they reached the village of 
Parkani. To his joy, as he gazed at some lofty mountains, he was told 
that they formed the western side of the Luta Nzige, and that the lake 
was actually within a march of the village. Their guide announced that 
if they started early in the morning, they might wash in the lake by 
noon. That night Baker hardly slept. 

Beautiful L-andscape. 

The following morning, the 14th of March, starting before sunrise, on 
ox-back, he and his Avife, with their attendants, following his guide, in a 
few hours reached a hill from the summit of which " he beheld beneath 
him a grand expanse of water, a boundless sea horizon on the south and 
southwest, glittering in the noonday sun, while on the west, at fifty or 
sixty miles distant, blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake to a 
height of about seven thousand feet above its level." 

Hence they descended on foot, supported by stout bamboos, for two 
hours, to the white pebbly beach on which the waves of the lake were 
rolling. Baker, in the enthusiasm of the moment, rushed into the lake, 
and, thristy with heat and fatigue, Avith a heart full of gratitude, drank 
•deeply from what he supposed to be one of the sources of the Nile, not 
dreaming of the wonderful discoveries Livingstone was making at that 
very time many degrees to the southward. He now bestowed upon this 
lake the name of the Albert Nyanza. 

The dwellers on the borders of the lake are expert fishermen, and in one 
of their villages, named Vakovia, the travellers now established themselves. 

His followers, two of whom had seen the sea at Alexandria, and who 
believed that they should never reach the lake, were astonished at its 
appearance, unhesitatingly declaring that though it was not salt, it must 
be the sea. 



478 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Salt, however, is the chief product of the country, numerous salt-pits 
existing in the neighborhood, and in its manufacture the inhabitants are 
chiefly employed. Vakovia is a miserable place, and, in consequence of 
its damp and hot position, the whole party suffered from fever. 

Travelling- in Canoes. 

Here they were detained eight days waiting for canoes, which Kamrasi 
had ordered his people to supply. At length several were brought, 
but they were merely hollowed-out trunks of trees, the largest being 
thirty-two feet long. Baker selected another, twenty-six feet long, but 
wider and deeper, for himself and his wife and their personal attendants, 
while the luggage and the remainder of the people embarked in the 
former. He raised the sides of the canoe, and fitted up a cabin for his 
wife, which was both rain and sun-proof 

Having purchased some provisions, he started on a voyage to survey 
the lake. Vakovia is about a third of the way from the northern end of 
the lake. His time would not allow him to proceed further south. He 
directed his course northward, towards the part out of which the Nile 
was supposed to flow. 

The difficulties of the journey were not yet over. The first day's voy- 
age was delightful, the lake calm, the scenery lovely. At times the 
mountains on the west coast were not discernible, and the lake appeared 
of indefinite width. Sometimes they passed directly under precipitous 
cliffs of fifteen hundred feet in height, rising abruptly out of the water, 
while from the deep clefts in the rocks evergreens of every tint appeared, 
and wherever a rivulet burst forth it was shaded by the graceful and 
feathery wild date. Numbers of hippopotami were sporting in the 
water, and crocodiles were numerous on every sandy beach. 

Storm on the Lake. 

Next night, however, the boatmen deserted, but, not to be defeated^ 
Baker induced his own people to take to the paddles. He fitted a paddle 
to his own boat, to act as a rudder, but the men in the larger boat 
neglected to do as he directed them. 

A tremendous storm of rain came down while he was at work. His 
own canoe, however, being ready, he started. He was about to cross 
from one headland to another, when he saw the larger canoe spinning: 
round and round, the crew having no notion of guiding her. Fortu- 
nately, it was calm, and, on reaching the shore, he induced several natives 
to serve as his crew, while others went off in their own boats to assist 
the large canoe. 

He now commenced crossing a deep bay, fully four miles wide. He 




(479) 



■480 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

had gained the centre when a tremendous storm came on, and enormous 
waves rolled in over the lake. The canoe labored heavily and occasion- 
ally shipped water, which was quickly bailed out. Had this not been 
done, the canoe would inevitably have been swamped. Down came the 
rain in torrents, while the wind swept over the surface with terrific force, 
nothing being discernible except the high cliffs looming in the distance. 
The boatmen paddled energetically, and at last a beach was seen ahead. 
A wave struck the canoe washing over her. Just then the men jumped 
•out, and though they were rolled over, they succeeded in hauling the 

boat up the beach. 

Delays and Difficulties. 

The shore of the lake, as they paddled along it, was thinly inhabited, 
and the people very inhospitable, till they reached the town of Eppigoya. 
Even here the inhabitants refused to sell any of their goats, though they 
willingly parted with fowls at a small price. 'At each village the voy- 
agers changed their boatmen, none being willing to go beyond the 
village next them. This was provoking, as delays constantly occurred. 

Such delays, however, are incident to all travelling in Africa. One of 
the great advantages of old countries is that there are means of transpor- 
tation which never fail. Possibly once in a great while the traveller is 
detained by floods, by washouts, by railway accidents, or from some 
other cause, yet considering the number of railways and the multitudes 
of people who journey from one place to another, it is surprising that 
there are so few delays and accidents. This, however, does not apply to 
Africa. There a journey of ten or fifteen miles a day for a caravan is 
•considered very good progress, and we have already seen that some of 
the explorers were detained in various localities for weeks, months, and, 
in one or two instances, for even years. Mr. and Mrs. Baker bore their 
liindrances with becoming fortitude and downright Anglo-Saxon pluck. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 

A Wilderness of Vegetation — Hearty Welcome From a Chief and Natives — "Blind 
Leading the Blind " — Voyage Up the Victoria Nile — Severe Attack of Fever — 
Sufferings of Lady Baker— A Remarkable River — End of Canoe Voyage — Begin- 
ning of a Toilsome March — Rumors Concerning a Great Waterfall — Thunder of 
the Cataract — Rocky Cliffs and Precipitous Banks — Magnificent View — Splendid 
Fall of Snow white Water — Murchison Falls — The Niagara of the Tropics — Hip- 
popotamus Charges the Canoe — Startling Shock — Scrawny Travelling Beasts — 
Curious Refreshments — Arrival at a Chief's Island — Crossing Ravines and Tor- 
rents — Sickness on the March — Taking Shelter in a Wretched Hut — On the Verge 
of Starvation — Baker Arrayed in Highland Costume — Stirring Events — Meeting 
Between a Slave and Her Former Mistress — Adventurous Journey — Pushing on 
for Shooa — Hunting Game for Dinner — Travellers Hungry as Wolves — Frolic- 
some Reception of the Explorers — March Through the Bari Country — Arrows 
Whizzing Overhead — Savage Fatally Wounded — Night in a Hostile Country — 
Lively Skirmish with the Natives —Arrival at Gondokoro — Excitement and 
Hurrahs — Terrible Ravages of the Plague — An Arab Gets His Deserts — Sir 
Samuel and Lady Baker Arrive at Cairo — Baker Receives the Award of the 
Victoria Gold Medal — The Hero Again in Africa. 

aT length the explorers reached Magungo, situated inside an 
immense bed of reeds, at the top of a hill, above the mouth of a 
large river. Passing up a channel amidst a perfect wilderness of 
vegetation, they reached the shore below the town. Here they 
were met by their guide, who had brought their riding oxen from Vako- 
via, and reported them all well. 

The chief of Magungo and a large number of natives were also on the 
shore waiting for them, and brought them down a plentiful supply of 
goats, fowls, eggs, and fresh butter. Proceeding on foot to the height on 
which Magungo stands, they thence enjoyed a magnificent view, not only 
over the lake, but to the north, towards the point where its waters flow 
into the Nile. 

Baker's great desire was to descend the Nile in canoes, from its exit 
from the lake to the cataracts in the Madi country, and thence to march 
'irect. with only guns and ammunition, to Gondokoro. This plan he 
IvRind impossible to carry out. 

We will let Baker continue the thrilling narrative in his own words : 

The boats being ready, we took leave of the chief, leaving him an 

acceptable present of beads, and we descended the hill to the river, thank- 

31 (481) 



482 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ful at having so far successfully terminated the expedition as to have 
traced the lake to that important point, Magun^o, which had been our 
clue to the discovery even so far away in time and place as the 
distant country of .Latooka. We were both very weak and ill, and my 
knees trembled beneath me as I walked down the easy descent. I, in 
my enervated state, endeavoring to assist my wife, we were the "blind 
leading the blind ;" but had life closed on that day we could have died 
most happily, for the hard fight through sickness and misery had ended 
in victory ; and, although I looked to home as a paradise never to be 
regained, I could have lain down to sleep in contentment on this spot, 
with the consolation that, if the body had been vanquished, we died with 
the prize in our grasp. 

Voyage Up the Victoria Nile. 

On arrival at the canoes we found everything in readiness, and the 
boatmen already in their places. A crowd of natives pushed us over the 
shallows, and once in deep water we passed through a broad canal which 
led us into the open channel without the labor of towing through the 
narrow inlet by which we had arrived. Once in the broad channel of 
dead water we steered due east, and made rapid way until the evening. 
The river as it now appeared, although devoid of current, was an average 
of about 500 yards in width. 

Before we halted for the night I was subjected to a most severe attack 
of fever, and upon the boat reaching a certain spot I was carried on a 
Htter, perfectly unconscious, to a village, attended carefully by my poor 
sick wife, who, herself half dead, followed me on foot through the 
marshes in pitch darkness, and watched over me until the morning. At 
daybreak I was too weak to stand, and we >vere both carried down to 
the canoes, and, crawling helplessly within our grass awning, we lay down 
like logs while the canoes continued their voyage. Many of our men 
were also suffering from fever. The malaiia of the dense masses of float- 
ing vegetation was most poisonous; and, upon looking back to the 
canoe that followed our wake, I observed all my men sitting crouched 
together sick and dispirited, looking like departed spirits being ferried 
across the melancholy Styx. 

The river now contracted rapidly to about two hundred and fifty yards 
in width about ten miles from Magungo. We had left the vast flats of 
rush banks, and entered a channel between high ground, forming steep 
forest- covered hills, about 200 feet on either side, north and south : never- 
theless there was no perceptible stream, although there was no doubt 
that we were actually in the channel of a river. The water was clear and 




MURCHISON FALLS — THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 



t4S3) 



484 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

exceedingly deep. In the evening we halted, and slept on a mud bank 
close to the water. The grass in the forest was very high and rank : thus 
we were glad to find an open space for a bivouac, although a nest of 
mosquitoes and malaria. 

Off in tlie Early Morning^. 

On waking the next morning, I observed that a thick fog covered the 
surface of the river; and as I lay upon my back, I amused myself before 
I woke my men by watching the fog slowly lifting from the river. While 
thus employed I was struck by the fact, that the little green water-plants, 
like floating cabbages, were certainly, although very slowly, moving to 
the west. I immediately jumped up and watched them most attentively; 
there was no doubt about it ; they were travelling towards the Albert 
Lake. We were now about eighteen miles in a direct line from Magun- 
go, and there was a current in the river, which, however slight, was never- 
theless perceptible. 

Our toilette did not take long to arrange, as we had thrown ourselves 
down at night with our clothes on ; accordingly we entered the canoe at 
once, and gave the order to start. 

The woman Bacheeta knew the country, as she had formerly been to 
Magungo when in the Service of Sali, who had been subsequently mur- 
dered by Kamrasi ; she now informed me that we should terminate our 
canoe voyage on that day, as we should arrive at the great waterfall of 
which she had often spoken. As we proceeded, the river gradually nar- 
rowed to about 1 80 y^rds, and when the paddles ceased working we 
could distinctly hear the roar of water. I had heard this on waking in 
the morning, but at the time I had imagined it to proceed from distant 
thunder. 

Thunder of the Cataract. 

By ten o'clock the current had so increased as we proceeded, that it 
•was distinctly perceptible, although weak. The roar of the waterfall was 
extremely loud, and after sharp pulling for a couple cf hours, during 
which time the stream increased, we arrived at a few deserted fishing- 
huts, at a point where the river made a slight turn. I never saw such an 
extraordinary show of crocodiles as were exposed on every sandbank on 
the sides of the river; they lay like logs of timber close together, and 
vpon one bank we counted twenty- seven, of large size; every basking 
place was crowded in a similar manner. From the time we had fairly 
'.ntcicd the river, it had been confined by heights somewhat precipitous 
on either side, rising to about 180 feet. At this point the cliffs were 
still higher, and exceedingly abrupt. From the roar of the water, I was 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 4.85 

sure that the fall would be in sight if we turned the corner at the bend of 
the river; accordingly I prdered the boatmen to row as far as they could: 
to this they at first objected, as they wished to stop at the deserted fisli- 
ing village, which they explained was to be the limit of the journey, fur- 
ther progress being impossible. 

A Magrnificent View. 

However, I explained that I merely wished to see the fall, and they 
rowed immediately up the stream, which was now strong against us. 
Upon rounding the corner, a magnificent sight burst suddenly upon us. 
On either side of the river were beautifully wooded cliffs rising abruptly' 
to a height of about 300 feet; rocks were jutting out from the intensely 
green foliage : and rushing through a gap that cleft the rock exactly be- 
fore us, the river, contracted from a grand stream, was pent up in a nar- 
row gorge of scarcely fifty yards in width ; roaring furiously through the 
rock-bound pass, it plunged in one leap of about 120 feet perpendicular 
into a dark abyss below. 

The fall of water was snow-white, which had a superb effect as it con- 
trasted with the dark cliffs that walled the river, while the graceful 
palms of the Tropics and wild plantains perfected the beauty of the view. 
This was the greatest waterfall of the Nile, and, in honor of the distin- 
guished President of the Royal Geographical Society, I named it the 
Murchison Falls, as the most important object throughout the entire 
course of the river. 

The boatmen, having been promised a present of beads to induce them 
to approach the fall as close as possible, succeeded in bringing the canoe 
within about 300 yards of the base, but the power of the current and the 
whirpools in the river rendered it impossible to proceed farther. There 
was a sand-bank on our left which was literally covered with crocodiles 
lying parallel to each other like trunks of trees prepared for shipment ; 
they had no fear of the canoe until we approached within about twenty 
yards of them, when they slowly crept into the water; all excepting one, 
an immense fellow who lazily lagged behind, and immediately dropped 
dead as a bullet struck him in the brain. 

Startling Shock. 

So alarmed were the boatmen at the unexpected report of the rifle that 
they immediately dropped into the body of the canoe, one of them losing 
his paddle. Nothing would induce them to attend to the boat, as I had 
fired a second shot at the crocodile as a " quietus," and the natives did 
not know how often the alarming noise would be repeated. Accordingly 
we were at the mercy of the powerful stream, and the canoe was whisked 



486 



VvONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



rbund by the eddy ; hardly had we realized our peril when a tremendous 
commotion took place, and in an instant a great bull hippopotamus 
charged the canoe, and with a severe shock striking the bottom he lifted 
us half out of the water. The natives in the party positively yelled with 
terror, not knowing whether the shock was in any way connected with 
the dreaded report of the rifle; the black women screamed; and we 
bcQan to make use of our rifles. 

The hippopotamus, proud of having disturbed us, but doubtless think- 
ing us rather hard of texture, raised his head to take a last view of his 
enemy, and then sank rapidly. Hippopotamus heads of enormous size 




FEROCIOUS ATTACK BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

were on all sides, appearing and vanishing rapidly as they rose to survey 
us ; at one time we counted eighteen upon the surface. Having recovered 
the lost paddle, I prevailed upon the boatmen to keep the canoe steady 
while I made a sketch of the Murchison Falls, which being completed, 
we drifted rapidly down to the landing-place at the deserted fishing-village, 
and bade adieu to the navigation of the lake and river of Central Africa. 

The kw huts that existed in this spot were mere ruins. Clouds had 
portended rain, jind down it came, as it usually did once in every twenty- 
f-ur hours. However, that passed away by the next morning, and the 
day broke, discovering us about as wet and wretched as we were accus- 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 487 

tomed to be. I now started off four of my men with the boatmen and 
the interpreter Bacheeta to the nearest village, to inquire whether our 
guide, Rabonga, had arrived with our riding oxen, as our future travel- 
ling was to be on land, and the limit of our navigation must have been 
well known to him. After some hours the people returned, minus the 
boatmen, with a message from the head-man of a village they had visited, 
that the oxen were there, but not the guide Rabonga, who had remained 
at Magungo, but that the animals should be brought to us that evening, 
together with porters to convey the luggage. 

In the evening a number of people arrived, bringing some plantain 
cider and plantains as a present from the head-man ; and promising that, 
upon the following morning, we should be conducted to his village. 

The next day we started, but not until the afternoon, as we had to 
await the arrival of the head-man, who was to escort us. Our oxen were, 
brought, and if we looked wretched, the anamals were a match. They 
had been bitten by the fly, thousands of which were at this spot. Their 
coats were staring, ears drooping, noses running, and heads hanging 
down ; all the symptoms of fly-bite, together with extreme looseness of 
the bowels. I saw that it was all up with our animals. 

Weak as I was myself, I was obliged to walk, as my ox could not carry 
me up the steep inclination, and I toiled languidly to the summit of the 
cliff It poured with rain. Upon arrival at the summit we were in pre- 
cisely the same park-like land that characterizes Chopi and Unyoro, but 
the grass was about seven feet high ; and from the constant rain, and the 
extreme fertility of the soil, the country was choked with vegetation. 
Arrival at a Chief's Island, 

We were now above the Murchison Falls, and we heard the roaring of 
the water beneath us to our left. We continued our route parallel to the 
river above the Falls, stearing east ; and a little before evening we arrived 
at a small village belonging to the head-man who accompanied us. I was 
chilled and wet ; my wife had fortunately been carried in her litter, which 
was protected by a hide roofing. Feverish and exhausted, I procured 
from the natives some good acid plums, and refreshed by these I was 
able to boil my thermometer and take the altitude. 

On the following morning we started, the route, as before, parallel to 
the river, and so close that the roar of the rapids was extremely loud. 
The river flowed in a deep ravine upon our left. We continued for a 
day's march along the Somerset, crossing many lavines and torrents, 
until we turned suddenly down to the left, and arriving at the bank, we 
were to be transported to an island called Patooan, that was the residence 



488 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS." 

of a chief. It was about an hour after sunset, and being dark, my riding 
ox; who was being driven as too weak to carry me, fell into an elephant 
pitfall. After much hallooing, a canoe was brought from the island, 
which was' not more than fifty yards from the mainland, and we were 
ferried across. We were both very ill with a sudden attack of fever ; 
and my wife, not being able to stand, was, on arrival on the island, car- 
ried in a litter I knew not whither, escorted by some of my men, while I 
lay down on the wet ground quite exhausted with the annihilating dis- 
ease. At length the remainder of my men crossed over, and those who 
had carried my wife to the village returning with firebrands, I managed to 
creep after them with the aid of a long stick, upon which I rested with 
both hands. 

In a Wretched Hut for Shelter. 

After a walk, through a forest of high trees, for about a quarter of a 
mile, I arrived at a village where I was show^n a wretched hut, the stars 
being visible through the roof In this my wife lay dreadfully ill, and I 
fell down upon some straw. About an hour later, a violent thunderstorm 
broke over us, and our hut was perfectly flooded , we, being far too ill 
and helpless to move from our positions, remained dripping wet and shiv- 
ering with fever until the morning. Our servants and people had, like 
all natives, made themselves much more comfortable than their employ- 
ers ; nor did they attempt to interfere with our misery in any way until 
summoned to appear at sunrise. 

The foregoing is Baker's narrative. Within a few days the boats in 
which they had hoped ta» return down the Nile would leave Gondokoro. 
It was, therefore, of the greatest importance that they should set out at 
once, and take a direct route through the Shooa country. 

The natives, not to be tempted even by bribes, positively refused to 
carry them. Their own men were also ill, and there was a great scarcity 
of provisions. War, indeed, was going on in the country to the east, 
Patooan being in the hands of Kamrasi's enemies. It was on this 
account that no Unyoro porters could be found. 

On the Verg-e of Starvation. 

They might have starved had not an underground granary of seed 
been discovered, by the means of Bacheeta, in one of the villages burned 
down by the enemy. This, with several varieties of wild plants, enabled 
them to support existence. The last of their oxen, after lingering for 
some time, lay down to die, affording the men a supply of beef, and Saati 
and Bacheeta occasionally obtained a fowl from one of the neighboring 
islands, which they visited in a canoe. 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 489 

At length both Mr. and Mrs. Baker fully believed that their last hour 
was come, and he wrote various instructions in his journal,' directing his 
head-man to deliver his maps and observations to the British Consul at 
Khartoum. 

The object, it appeared, of Kamrasi in thus leaving them, was to 
obtain their assistance against his enemies, and at length their guide, 
Rehonga, made his appearance, having been ordered to carry them to 
Kamrasi's camp. The journey was performed, in spite of their weak 
state ; and on their arrival they found ten of the Turks left as hostages 
with Kamrasi by Ibrahim, who had returned to Gondokoro. The Turks 
received them with respect and manifestations of delight and wonder at 
their having performed so difficult a journey. A hut was built for their 
reception, and an ox, killed by the Turks, was prepared as a feast for their 
people. 

The next day the king announced his readiness to receive the traveller, 
who, attiring himself in a Highland costume, was carried on the shoulders 
of a number of men into the presence of the monarch. The king 
informed him that he had made arrangements for his remaining at 
Kisoona. 

Stirringf Events. 

As now all hope of reaching Gondokoro in time for the boats had 
gone, Mr. Baker, yielding to necessity, prepared to make himself at 
home. He had a comfortable hut built, surrounded by a court-yard 
with an open shed in which he and his wife could spend the hot hours 
of the day. Kamrasi sent him a cow which gave an abundance of milk, 
also amply supplying him with food. 

Here the travellers were compelled to spend many months. Their 
stay was cut short, in consequence of the invasion of the country by 
Fowooka's people, accompanied by a large band of Turks under the 
trader Debono. Kamrasi proposed at once taking to flight ; but Baker 
promised to hoist the flag of England, and to place the country under 
British protection. He then sent a message to Mahomet, Debono's 
guide, warning him that should a shot be fired by any of his people, he 
would be hung, and ordering them at once to quit the country ; inform- 
ing them, besides, that he had already promised all the ivory to Ibrahim, 
so that, contrary to the rules of the traders, they were trespassing in the 
territory. 

This letter had its due effect. Mahomet deserted his allies, who were 
immediately attacked by Kamrasi's troops, and cut to pieces, while the 
women and children were brought away as captives. Among them, 



490 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Becheeta, who had once been a slave in the country, recognized her 
former mistress, who had been captured with the wives and daughters of 
their chief, Rionga. 

After this Ibrahim returned, bringing a variety of presents for Kam- 
rasi, which, in addition to the defeat of his enemies, put him in excellent 
humor. Mr. Baker was able to save the life of an old chief, Kalloe, who 
had been captured; but some days afterwards the treacherous Kamrasi 
shot him with his own hand. 

Adventurous March. 

At length the Turkish traders, having collected a large supply of 
ivory, were ready to return to Shooa; and Mr. Baker, thankful to leave 
the territory of the brutal Kamrasi, took his leave, and commenced the 
journey with his allies, who, including porters, women, and children 
amounted to a thousand people. 

At the break of day, says Baker, we started. It would be tedious to 
describe the journey, as, although by a diffrent route, it was through the 
same country that we had traversed before. After the first day's march 
we quitted the forest and entered upon the great prairies. I was aston- 
ished to find after several days' journey a great difference in the dryness 
of the climatei In Unyoro we had left the grass an intense green, the 
rain having been frequent : here it was nearly dry, and in many places it 
hdd been burnt by the native huntmg parties. From some elevated 
points in the route I could distinctly make out the outline of the moun- 
tains running from the Albert Lake to the north, on the west bank of the 
Nile; these would hardly have been observed by a person who was 
ignorant of their existence, as the grass was so high that I had to ascend 
a white ant-hill to look for them; they were about sixty miles dis- 
tant, and my men, who knew them well, pointed them out to their 
companions. 

The entire party, including women and children, had to be provided 
for daily. Although they had abundance of flour, there was no meat, 
and the grass being high there was no chance of game. On the fourth 
day only I saw a herd of about twenty tetel (hartebeest) in an open space 
that had been recently burnt. We were both riding upon oxen that I had 
purchased of Ibrahim, and we were about a mile ahead of the flag in the 
hope of getting a shot; dismounting from my animal I stalked the game 
down a ravine, but upon reaching the point that I had resolved upon for 
the shot, I found the herd had moved their position to about 250 paces 
from me. 

They were all looking at me, as they had been disturbed by the oxen 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 491 

and the boy Saat in the distance. Dinner aepended on the shot. There 
was a leafless bush singed by the recent fire ; upon a branch of this I took 
a rest, but just as I was going to fire they moved off — a clean miss ! — 
whizz went the bullet over them, but so close to the ears of one that it 
shook its head as though stung by a wasp, and capered round and round ; 
tlic others stood perfectly still, gazing at the oxen in the distance. 

Hungry as Wolves. 

Crack went the left-hand barrel of the little rifle, and down went a tetel 
like a lump of lead, before the satisfactory sound of the bullet returned 
from the distance. Off went the herd, leaving a fine beast kicking on the 
ground. It was shot through the spine, and some of the native porters 
having witnessed the sport from a great distance, threw down their loads 
and came racing towards the meat like a pack of wolves scenting blood. 
In a few minutes the prize was divided, while a good portion was carried 
by Saat for our own use : the tetel, weighing about 500 lbs. vanished 
among the crowd in a few minutes. 

On the fifth day's march from the Victoria Nile we arrived at Shooa ; 
the change was delightful after the wet and dense vegetation of Unyoro ; 
the country was dry, and the grass low and of fine quality. We took 
possession of our camp, that had already been prepared for us in a large 
court-yard well cemented with manure and clay, and fenced with a 
strong row of palisades. A large tree grew in the centre. Several huts 
were erected for interpreters and servants, and a tolerably commodious 
hut, the roof overgrown with pumpkins, was arranged for our mansion. 

That evening the native women crowded to our camp to welcome my 
wife home, and to dance in honor of our return ; for which exhibition 
they expected a present of a cow. 

Much to my satisfaction I found that my first rate riding ox that had 
been lamed during the previous year by falling into a pitfall, and had been 
returned to Shooa, was perfectly recovered ; thus I had a good mount for 
my journey to Gondokoro. 

Some months were passed at Shooa, during which I occupied my time 
by rambling about the neighborhood, ascending the mountain, making- 
duplicates of my maps, and gathering information, all of which was sim- 
ylv a corroboration of what 1 had heard before, excepting from the East. 

Deatli ill the Air. 

As they were marching thence through the country inhabited by the 
Bari tribe, they were attacked in a gorge by the natives. We continue 
the interesting narrative in Baker's own words :, 

The level of the country being about 200 feet above the Nile, deep 




(49^ 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 493 

gullies cut the route at right angles, forming the natural drains to the 
river. In these ravines grew dense thickets of bamboos. Having no 
native guide, but trusting solely to the traders' people, who had travelled 
frequently by this route, we lost the path, and shortly became entangled 
amongst the numerous ravines. 

At length we passed a village, around which were assembled a num- 
ber of nat'ves. Having regained the route, we observed the natives 
appearing in various directions, and as quickly disappearing only to 
gather in our front in increased numbers. Their movements exciting 
suspicion, in a country where every man was an enemy, our party closed 
together; — we threw out an advance guard — ten men on either flank — 
the porters, ammunition, and effects in the centre ; while about ten men 
brought up the rear. Before us lay two low rocky hills covered with 
trees, high grass and brushwood,, in which I distinctly observed the 
bright red forms of natives painted according to the custom of the Bari 
tribe. 

We were evidently in for a fight. The path lay in a gorge between 
the low rocky hills in advance. My wife dismounted from her ox, and 
walked at the head of our party with me, Saat following behind with the 
gun that he usually carried, while the men drove several riding-oxen in 
the centre. 

Arrows Whizzing Overhead. 

Hardly had we entered the pass, when — whizz went an arrow over our 
heads. This was the signal for a repeated discharge. The natives ran 
among the rocks with the agility of monkeys, and showed a consider- 
able amount of daring in standing within about eighty yards upon the 
ridge, and taking steady shots at us with their poisoned arrows. The 
flanking parties now opened fire, and what with the bad shooting of both 
the escort and the native archers, no one was wounded on either side for 
the first ten minutes. The rattle of musketry and the wild appearance 
of the naked vermilion-colored savages, as they leapt along the craggy 
ridge, twanging their bows at us with evil but ineffectual intent, was a 
charming picture of African life and manners. 

Fortunately, the branches of numerous trees and intervening clumps 
of bamboo frustrated the gcod intentions of the arrows, as they glanced 
from their aim ; and although some fell among our party, we were as yet 
unscathed. One of the enemy, who was probably a chief, distinguished 
himself in particular, by advancing to within about fifty yards, and stand- 
ing on a rock, he deliberately shot five or six arrows, all of which missed 
their mark ; the men dodged them as they arrived in their uncertain 



494 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

flight; the speed of the arrows was so inferior, owin;^ to the stiffness of 
the bows, that nothing was easier than to evade them. Any halt was 
unnecessar3^ We continued our march through the gorge, the men 
keeping up an unremitting fire until we entered upon a tract of hiijM 
grass and forest; this being perfectly dry, it would have been easy to s^t 
it on fire, as the enemy were to leeward; but although the rustling in 
the grass betokened the presence of a great number of men, they were 

invisible. 

A Savag-e Fatally Wounded. 

In a few minutes we emerged in a clearing, where corn had been 
planted ; this was a favorable position for a decisive attack upon the 
natives, who now closed up. Throwing out skirmishers, with orders 
that they were to cover themselves behind the trunks of trees, the Baris 
were driven back. One was now shot through the body and fell ; but 
recovering, he ran with his comrades, and fell dead after a few yards. 

What casualties had happened during the passage of the gorge, I 
cannot say, but the enemy were now utterly discomfited. I had not 
fired a shot, as the whole affair was perfect child's-play, and anyone who 
could shoot would have settled the fortune of the day by half a dozen 
shots ; but both the traders' people and my men were " shooters, but not 
hitters." We now bivouacked on the field for the night. 

During the march on the following day, the natives watched us at a 
distance, following in great numbers parallel with our route, but fearing 
to attack. The country was perfectly open, being a succession of fine 
downs of low grass, with few trees, where any attack against our guns 
would have been madness. 

In the evening we arrived at two small deserted villages ; these, like 
most in the Bari country, were circular, and surrounded by a live and 
impenetrable fence of euphorbia, having only one entrance. The traders' 
people camped in one, while I took up my quarters in the other. The 
sun had sunk, and the night being pitch dark, we had a glorious fire, 
around which we placed our couches opposite the narrow entrance of 
the camp, about ten yards distant. 

Surrounded toy Hostile Natives. 

I stationed R.icharn as sentry outsidd the gateway, as he was the most 
reliable of my men, and I thought it extremely probable that we might 
be attacked during the night ; three other sentries I placed on guard at 
various stations. Dinner being concluded, Mrs. Baker lay down on her 
couch for the night. I drew the balls from a doubled-barrelled smooth 
bore rifle, and loaded with cartridge containing each twenty large -mould 



» 1 



V - 



*Sk 



.— , 






If 



^ J- 










(495) 



496 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

shot (about a hundred to the pound) ; putting this under my pillow I 
went to sleep. Hardly had I begun to rest, when my men woke me, 
saying that the camp was surrounded by natives. Upon inquiry I found 
this to be correct : it was so dark that they could not be seen without 
stooping to the ground, and looking along the surface. I ordered the 
sentries not to fire unless hostilities should commence on the side of the 
natives, and in no case to draw trigger without a challenge. 

Returning to the couch I laid down, and not wishing to sleep, I smoked 
my long Unyoro pipe. In about ten minutes — bang ! went a shot, 
quickly followed by another from the sentry at the entrance of the camp. 
Quietly rising from my bed, I found Richarn reloading at his post. 
" What is it, Richarn ? " I asked. " They are shooting arrows into the 
camp, aiming at the fire, in hopes of hittfng you who are sleeping there," 
said Richarn. " I watched one fellow," he continued, " as I heard the 
twang of his bow four times. At each shot I heard an arrow strike the 
ground between me and you, therefore I fired at him, and I think he is 
down. Do you see that black object lying on the ground?" I saw 
something a little blacker than the surrounding darkness, but it could 
not be distinguished. Leaving Richarn with orders not to move from 
his post, but to keep a good look-out until relieved by the next watch, I 
again went to sleep. 

Poisoned Arrows. 

Before break of day, just as the grey dawn slightly improved the 
darkness, I visited the sentry ; he was at his post, and reported that he 
thought the archer of the preceding night was dead, as he had heard a 
sound proceeding from the dark object on the ground after I had left. 
In a few minutes it was sufficiently light to distinguish the body of a 
man lying about thirty paces from the camp entrance. Upon examina- 
tion, he proved to be a Bari ; — his bow -was in his hand, and two or 
three arrows were lying by his side ; — thirteen mould shot had struck 
him dead ; — one had cut through the bow. We now searched the camp 
for arrows, and as it became light, we picked up four in various places, 
some within a few feet of our beds, and all horribly barbed and poisoned, 
that the deceased had shot into the camp gateway. 

This was the last attack during our journey. We marched well, gen- 
erally accomplishing fifteen miles of latitude daily from this point, as the 
road was good and well known to our guides. The country was generally 
poor, but beautifully diversified with large trees, the tamarind predomi- 
nating. Passing through the small but thickly-populated and friendly 
little province of Moir, in a few days we sighted the well-known moun- 



THE NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 497 

tain Belignian, that we had formerly passed on its eastern side when we 
had started on our uncertain path from Gondokoro upwards of two years 
ago. We had a splendid view of the Ellyria Mountain, and of the dis- 
tant cone, Honey Mountain, between Ellyria and Obbo. 

All ihese curiously-shaped crags and peaks were well knows to us, and 
we welcomed them as old friends after a long absence; they had been 
our companions in times of doubt and anxiety, when success in our under- 
taking appeared hopeless. At noon on the following day, as we were as 
usual marching parallel with the Nile, the river, having made a slight 
bend to the west, swept round, and approached within half a mile of our 
path ; the small conical mountain, Regiaf, within twelve miles of Gondo- 
koro, was on our left, rising from the west bank of the river. We felt 
almost at home again, and marching until sunset, we bivouacked within 
three miles of Gondokoro. 

Back at Gondokoro. 

That night we were full of speeulations. Would a boat be waiting for 
us with supplies and letters ? The morning anxiously looked forward to 
arrived. We started; the English flag had been mounted on a fine 
straight bamboo with a new lance-head specially arranged for the arrival at 
Gondokoro. My men felt proud, as they would march in as conquerors; 
according to White Nile ideas such a journey could not have been accom- 
plished with so small a party. Long before Ibrahim's men were ready to 
start, our oxen were saddled and we were off, longing to hasten into Gon- 
dokoro and to find a comfortable vessel with a few luxuries, and the post 
•from England. Never had the oxen traveled so fast as on that morning; 
the flag led the way, and the men in excellent spirits followed at double- 
quick pace. 

" I see the masts of the vessels ! " exclaimed the boy, Saat. " El hambd 
el lUah ! " (thank God !) shouted the men, " Hurrah ! " said I — " Three 
cheers for old England and the Sources of the Nile ! hurrah!" and my 
men joined me in the wild, and to their ears, savage English yell. " Now 
for a salute ! Fire away all your powder if you like, my lads, and let the 
people know that we're alive ! " 

This was all that was required to complete the happiness of my people, 
and loading and firing as fast as possible, we approached near to Gondo- 
koro. Presently we saw the Turkish flag emerge from Gondokoro, at 
about a quarter of a mile distant, followed by a number of the traders' 
people, who waited to receive us. On our arrival, they immediately 
approached and fired salutes with ball cartridge, as usual advancing close 
to us and discharging their guns into the ground at our feet. One of my 



498 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

servants, Mah'omet, was riding an ox, and an old friend of his in the 
crowd happening to recognize him, immediately advanced and saluted 
him by firing his gun into the earth directly beneath the belly of the ox 
he was riding ; the effect produced made the crowd and ourselves 
explode with laughter. The nervous ox, terrified at the sudden dis- 
charge between his legs, gave a tremendous kick, and continued madly 
kicking and plunging, until Mahomet was pitched over his head, and lay 
sprawling on the ground ; this scene terminated the expedition. 
Frightful Ravages of a Plague. 

The foregoing account, given in Baker's most graphic language, shows 
what hardships his expidition encountered, all of which were shared by 
his heroic wife, who is the most celebrated woman traveller known to 
Tropical exploration. 

On reaching Gondoko, only three boats had arrived, while the trading 
parties were in consternation at hearing that the Egyptian authorities 
were about to suppress the slave trade and with four steamers had 
arrived at Khartoum, two of which had ascended the White Nile and 
had captured many slavers. Thus the three thousand slaves who were 
then assembled at Gondokoro would be utterly worthless. 

The plague also was raging at Khartoum, and many among the crews 
of the boats had died on the passage. Mr. Baker, however, engaged 
one of them belonging to Koorshid Pacha. 

Bidding farewell to his former opponent, Ibrahim, who had since, 
however, behaved faithfully, Mr. Baker and his devoted wife commenced 
their voyage down the Nile. Unhappily the plague, as might have been 
expected, broke out on board, and several of their people died among 
them. They chiefly regretted the loss of the faithful little boy, Saat. 

At Khartoum, which they reached on the 5th of May, 1865, they 
were welcomed by the whole European population, and hospitably 
entertained. 

Here they remained two months. During the time the heat was in- 
tense, and the place was visited by a dust-storm, which in a few minutes 
produced an actual pitchy darkness. At first there was no wind, and 
when it came it did not arrive with the violence that might have been 
expected. So intense was the darkness, that Mr. Baker and his com- 
panions tried in vain to distinguish their hands placed close before their 
eyes ; not even an outline could be seen. This lasted for upwards of 
twenty minutes, and then rapidly passed away. They had, however, felt 
such darkness as the Egyptians experienced in the time of Moses. 

The plague had been introduced by the slaves landed from two vessels 



THI- NIAGARA OF AFRICA. 499 

which liad been captured, and n ulilch thj pestilence had broken out 
They cont;iined upwards of eiq^ht hundred and fifty human beings. 
Nothing could be more dreadful tl:an tlie condition in which the unhappy 
beings were put on shore. The women had afterwards been di^^tributed 
among the soldiers, and, in consequence, the pestilence had been dissemi- 
nated throughout the place. 

Mr. Baker had the satisfaction of bringing Mahomet Her, who had 
instigated his men to mutiny at Latooka, to justice. He was seized and 
carried before the governor, when he received one hundred and fifty 
lashes. How often had the wretch flogged women to excess ! What 
murders had he not committed! And now how he had howled for 
mercy ! Mr. Baker, however, begged that the punishment might be 
stopped, and that it might be explained to him that he was thus punished 
for attempting to thwart the expedition of an English traveller by insti- 
gating his escort to mutiny. 

The Nile having now ri^en, the voyage was recommenced ; but their 
vessel was very nearly wrecked on descending the cataracts. 

On reaching Berber, they crossed the desert east to Sonakim on the 
Red Sea. Hence, finding a steamer, they proceeded by way of Suez to 
Cairo, where they left the faithful Richarn and his wife in a comfortable 
situation as servants at Shepherd's Hotel, and Mr. Baker had the satis- 
faction of hearing that the Royal Geographical Society had awarded him 
the Victoria Gold Medal, a proof that his exertions had been duly appre- 
ciated. He, also, on his arrival in England, received the honor of 
knighthood. 

Sir Samuel and Lady Baker, after a short stay at home, returned to 
Egypt; Sir Samuel there having received the fank of pacha from the. 
Khedive. 

It is gratifying to know that the heroic sacrifices and brilliant services 
in Tropical exploration rendered by Mr. and Mrs. Baker were appreciated 
in their own home, and were recognized by the government of Great 
Britain. From an ordinary personage Mr. Paker rose to the rank of 
Baronet, had the title conferred upon him by wlii( h he is now known to 
the world, and this was given solely as a reward fur meritorious services. 
Few explorers in Africa have done more for the benefit of that benighted 
region than he, and if his own ideas and plans had been carried out, and 
the great changes had taken place which he contemplated, Africa to-day 
would be centuries nearer enlightenment than she is. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 

The Khedive of Egypt— Baker Made a Pasha — Second Expedition Towards the 
Sources of the Nile — A Scene of Desolation — Conveying Steel Steamers for the 
Albert Lake — The Expedition's Outfit — Musical Boxes and Magic Lanterns — Ihe 
Military Forces — Baker's Very "Irregular Cavalry" — Grotesque Mancieuvres — 
The Camel Transport— Gun Carriages and Heavy Machinery — Steaming up the 
Nile — One of the Bravest Achievements of Modern Times — A Grand River — Im- 
mense Flats and Boundless Marshes — Current Checked by Floating Islands^ 
Toilsome Passage— The Expedition Retreats — Pursuing Game — A Beautiful 
Animal — Biker in Camp— The Shillook Tribe— Superior Savages — Crafty Tres- 
passers — Old Chief w^ith Immense Family — A Pompous Ruler — Wholesale Matri- 
mony—Brown Men Get Jilted— A Little Black Pet— Natives Up in Arms— A 
Dangerous Encounter — Attack From the Baris — Dastardly Traitor — The House- 
hold — Black Boys Who Would Not Steal Sugar — Little "Cuckoo" — A Remarka- 
ble Rock — An Old Super.-tition — On the March — Adventure with a Rhinoceros — 
Horse Attacked— Timely Shot — The Wild Beast Laid Low — Arrival at Unyoro— 
Sanguinary Battle — "Chinese" Gordon at Khartoum— Gordon's Untimely Death. 

FRICAN exploration was not destined to halt. We find Sir Samuel 
Baker upon a second expedition fully equal in interest to the one 
described in the preceding chapter. This expedition was urged by 
the Prince cf Wales and was furthered by powerful patrons in Eng- 
land. Baker had proved himself a bold spirit, the master of events and 
circumstances, an explorer of great tact, endurance and energy, and it was 
confidently believed that if he were sent into Central Africa not only would 
a path for commerce be opened, but a large part of the country could be 
annexed to Egypt, and active measures could be taken for the suppres- 
sion of the slave traffic and other deeds of violence which rendered this 
vast region a complete pandemonium. 

The expedition was to last four years. During this period Baker was 
made a Pasha, or was constituted an Egyptian governor. His territory 
was vast in the extreme, being nothing less than the Nile region. It will 
be understood that the Khedive of Egypt, by whose immediate authority 
Baker conducted this expedition, received his title from the Sultan of 
Turkey, and was given this name by virtue of having been made the 
ruler of Egypt. Thus Baker began his great undertaking with as much 
authority as it was needful or possible for anyone to have. He was sent 
without let or hinJrancc, was given coiumaiid of his own forces, was 
(500) 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 501 

invested even with the power of life or death. He was made an autocrat, 
was constituted a supreme ruler, and had he not been a very wise, 
judicious, and self-possessed man, he would unquestionably have become 
a tyrant, and a curse instead of a benefactor to the savage and warlike 
tribes of Central Africa. 

For the most part we shall permit Mr. Baker to tell his thrilling story 
in his own language. 

In my former journey, he says, I had traversed countries of extreme 
fertility in Central Africa, with a healthy climate favorable for the settle- 
ment of white men, at a mean altitude of four thousand feet above the 
sea-level. This large and almost boundless extent of country was well 
peopled by a race who only required the protection of a strong but 
paternal government to become of considerable importance, and to 
eventually develop the great resources of the soil. 

I found lands varying in natural capabilities according to their position 
and altitudes — where sugar, cotton, coffee, rice, spices, and all tropi- 
cal produce might be successfully cultivated; but those lands were with- 
out any civilized form of government, and " every man did what seemed 
right in his own eyes." 

A Scene of Desolation. 

Rich and well-populated countries were rendered desolate; the women 
and children were carried into captivity ; villages were burned, and crops 
were destroyed or pillaged ; the population was driven out ; a terrestrial 
paradise was converted into an infernal region ; the natives, who were 
originally friendly, were rendered hostile to all strangers, and the general 
condition could only be expressed in one word — " ruin." 

To effect the grand reform contemplated it would be necessary to 
annex the Nile Basin, and to establish a government in countries that 
had been hitherto without protection, and a prey to adventurers from the 
Soudan. To convey steel steamers from England, and to launch them 
upon the Albert Lake, and thus open the resources of Central Africa ; to 
establish legitimate trade in a vast country which had hitherto been a 
field of rapine and of murder ; to protect the weak and to punish the 
evil-doer, and to open the road to a great future, where the past had 
been all darkness and the present reckless spoliation — this was the grand 
object which Ismail, the Khedive of Egypt, determined to accomplish. 

Before I left England I personally selected every article that was nec- 
essary for the expedition ; thus an expenditure of about forty-five thous- 
and dollars was sufficient for the purchase of the almost innumerable 
items that formed the outfit for the enterprise. This included an admir- 



502 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

able selection of Manchester goods, such as cotton sheeting, gray calico, 
cotton, and also woolen blankets, white, scarlet, and blue ; Indian scaris, 
red and yellow ; handkerchiefs of gaudy colors, chintz printed ; scarlet 
flannel shirts, serge of colors (blue, red), linen trousers, etc., etc. 

Tools of all sorts — axes, small hatchets, harness bells, brass rods, cop- 
per rods, combs, zinc mirrors, knives, crockery, tin plates, fish-hooks, 
musical-boxes, colored prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned spoons, cheap 
watches, etc., etc. 

Musical Boxes and Mag-ic Lanterns. 

I thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body of troops if nec- 
essary, while the magazines could produce anything from a needle to a 
crow-bar, or from a handkerchief to a boat's sail. It will be seen here- 
after that these careful arrangements assured the success of the expedi- 
tion, as the troops, when left without pay, could procure all they required 
from the apparently inexhaustible stores of the magazines. 

In addition to the merchandise and general supplies, I had several 
large musical boxes with bells and drums, an excellent magic lantern, 
wheels of life, and an assortment of toys. The greatest wonder to the 
natives were two large girandoles ; also the silvered balls, about six 
inches in diameter, that, suspended from the branch of a tree, reflected 
the scene beneath. 

In every expedition fhe principal difficulty is the transport. " Travel 
light, if possible," is the best advice for all countries; but in this instance 
it was simply impossible, as the object of the expedition was not only to 
convey steamers to Central Africa, but to establish legitimate trade in the 
place of the nefarious system of pillage hitherto adopted by the so-called 
White Nile traders. 

The military arrangements comprised a force of one thousand six hun- 
dred and forty-five troops, including a corps of two hundred irregular 
cavalry, and two batteries of artillery. The infantry were two regiments, 
supposed to be well selected. The black, or Soudani, regiment included 
many officers and men who had served for some years in Mexico with 
the French army under Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment 
turned out to be for the most part convicted felons who had been trans- 
ported for various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan. 

1 reviewed the irregalar cavalry, about two hundred and fifty horse. 
These were certainly very irregular. Each man was horsed and armed 
according to his individual notion of a trooper's requirements. There 
wore 1 nk. half starved horses; round, short horses; very small ponies; 
horses that were all legs ; others that were all heads ; horses that had 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 503 

been groomed ; horses that had never gone through that operation 
The saddles and bridles were only fit for an old curiosity-shop. There 
were some with faded strips of gold and silver lace adhering here and 
there ; others that resembled the horse in skeleton appearance, which had 
been strengthened by strips of raw crocodile skin. The unseemly huge 
shovel-stirrups were rusty ; the bits were filthy. Some of the men had 
swords and pistols ; others had short blunderbusses with brass barrels ; 
many had guns of various patterns, from the long, old-fashioned Arab 
to the commonest double-barreled French gun that was imported. The 
customs varied in a like manner to the arms and animals. 
Grotesque Maiiceuvjers. 

Having formed in line, they now executed a brilliant charge at a sup- 
posed enemy, and performed many feats of valor ; and having quickly 
got into inconceivable confusion, they at length rallied and returned to 
their original position. 

I complimented their ofificer; and hiving asked Djiafifer Pasha, one of 
the Khedive's generals, if these brave troops represented my cavalry 
force, and being assured of the fact, I dismissed them, and requested 
Djiaffer Pasha to inform them that " I regretted the want of transport 
would not permit me the advantage of their services. ' Inshallah ! ' 
(Please God !) at some future time," etc., etc. 

I thus got rid of my cavalry, which I never wished to see again. I had 
twenty-one good horses that I had brought from Cairo, and these, 
together with the horses belonging to the various officers, were as much 
as we could convey. 

I had taken extra precautions, in the packing of ammunition and 
all perishable goods. The teak boxes for ammunition, also the 
boxes of rockets, were lined hermetically sealed with soldered tin. The 
light goods and smaller articles were packed in strong, useful, painted 
tin boxes, with locks and hinges. Each box was numbered, and when 
the lid was opened, a tin plate was soldered over the open face, so that 
the lid, when closed, locked above a hermetically sealed case. Each tin 
box was packed in a deal case, with a number to correspond with the 
box within. By this arrangement the tin boxes arrived at their destina- 
tion as good as new, and were quite invaluable for traveling, as they 
each formed a handy load, and were alike proof against the attacks of 
insects and bad weather. 

Camels and Gun-carriages. 

T had long water-proof cloaks for the night sentries in rainy climates, 
and sou'-wester caps; these proved of great service during active opera- 



604 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

tions in the wet season, as the rifles were kept dry under the cloaks, and 
the men were protected from wet and cold when on guard. 

The provisions for the troops were wheat, rice, and lentils. The sup- 
plies from England, and in fact the general arrangements had been so 
carefully attended to, that throughout the expedition I could not feel a 
want, neither could I either regret or wish to have changed any plan 
that I had originally determined. 

For the transport of the heavy machinery across the desert I employed 
gun-carriages drawn by two camels each. The long steel sections of 
steamers and the section of life-boats were slung upon long poles of fir 
arranged between two camels in the manner of shafts. Many hundred 
poles served this purpose, and subsequently were used at head-quarters as 
rafters for magazines and various buildings. 

I had thrown my whole heart into the expedition ; but I quickly per- 
ceived the difficulties that I should have to contend with in the passive 
resistance of those whose interests would be affected. The arrangements 
that I had made would have insured success, if carried out according to 
the dates specified. The six steamers and the sailing flotilla from Cairo 
should have started on June loth, in order to have ascended the cataracts 
of the Wady Halfah at the period of high water. Instead of this the ves- 
sels were delayed, in the absence of the Khedive in Europe, until August 
29th ; thus, by the time they reached the second cataract, the river had 
fallen, and it was impossible to drag the steamers through the passage 
until the next season. Thus twelve months were wasted, and I was at 
once deprived of the mvalu^le aid of six steamers. 
Steaming- Up the Nile. 

A train of forty-one railway wagons, laden with sections of steamers, 
machinery, boiler sections, etc., etc., arrived at Cairo, and were embarked 
on board eleven hired vessels. With the greatest difficulty I procured a 
steamer of one hundred and forty horse-power to tow this flotilla to 
Korosko, from which spot the desert journey would commence. I 
obtained this steamer only by personal application to the Khedive. 

At length I witnessed the start of the entire party of engineers and 
mechanics. One steamer towed the long line of eleven vessels against 
the powerful stream of the Nile. One of the tow-ropes snapped at the 
commencement of the voyage, which created some confusion, but, when 
righted, they quickly steamed out of view. This mass of heavy material, 
including two steamers, and two steel life-boats of ten tons each, was to 
be transported for a distance of about three thousand miles, four hundred 
of which would be across the scorching Nubian deserts ! 




(505) 



COG WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The foregoing account of the obstacles encountered by Baker lends 
an almost superhuman character to his subsequent success. Nothing 
stopped him ; he leaped over difficulties that would easily have defeated 
weaker men. His transport of the heavy freight of his expedition for 
so great a distance over desert sands and through unexplored regions was 
one of the bravest achievements of modern times. 

The white Nile, says Baker, is a grand river between the Sobat junc- 
tion and Khartoum, and after passing south to the great affluent the dif- 
ference in the character is quickly perceived. We now enter upon the 
region of the immense flats and boundless marshes, through which the 
river winds in a labyrinth-like course for about seven hundred and fifty 
miles to Gondokoro. Having left the Sobat, we arrived at the junction of 
the Bahr Giraffe, thirty-eight miles distant, on February 17th. Having 
turned into the river, I waited for the arrival of the fleet. 

Toilsome Passage. 

The Bahr Giraffe was to be our new passage instead of the original 
White Nile. That river, which had become so curiously obstructed by 
masses of vegetation that had formed a solid dam, had been entirely neg- 
lected by the Egyptian authorities. In consequence of this neglect an 
extraordinary change had taken place. The immense number of floating 
islands which are constantly passing down the stream of the White Nile 
had no exit : thus they were sucked under the original obstruction by 
the force of the stream, which passed through some mysterious channel, 
until the subterraneous passage became choked with a wondrous accu- 
mulation of vegetable fhatter. The entire river became a marsh, beneath 
which, by the great pressure of water, the stream oozed through innum- 
erable small channels. In fact, the White Nile had disappeared. A 
vessel arriving from Khartoum in her passage to Gondokoro would find, 
after passing through a broad river of clear water, that the bow would 
suddenly strike against a bank of solid compressed vegetation — this was 
the natural dam that had been formed to an unknown extent ; the river 
ceased to exist. 

I was rather anxious about this new route, as I had heard conflicting 
accounts in Khartoum concerning the possibility of navigating such large 
vessels as the steamers of thirty-two horse-power and a hundred feet 
length of deck. I was provided with guides who professed to be thor- 
oughly acquainted with the river ; these people were captains of trading- 
vessels, who had made the voyage frequently. 

The rear vessels of the fleet having arrived, the steamers worked up 
against the strong current indjpend^ntly. Towing was difficult, owing 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 507 

to the sharp turns of the river. The Bahr Giraffe was about seventy yards 
in width, and at this season the banks are high and dry. Throughout 
the voyage on the White Nile we had had excellent wild-fowl shooting 
whenever we had halted to cut fuel for the steamers. One afternoon I 
killed a-hippopotamus, two crocodiles, and two pelicans, with the rifle. 
We found many young pelicans 'unable to fly. Flocks of the old birds 
were sitting upon the benches of the lagoon, and it appeared that the 
islands were their breeding-places; not only so, but from the number of 
skeletons and bones there scattered, it would seem that, for ages, these 
had been selected as the closing scene of their existence. Certainly none 
more likely to be free from disturbance of every kind could have been 
chosen, than the islets of a hidden lagoon of an uninhabited locality ; 
nor can anything be more consonant to their feelings, if pelicans have 
any, than quietly to resign their breath, surrounded by their progeny, 
and in the same spot where they first drew it. 

" Day by day, 
New lessons, exercises, and amusements 
Employed the old to teach, the young to learn. 
Now floating on the blue lagoon behold them, 
The sire and dam in swan like beauty steering. 
Their cygnets following through the foaming wake, 
Picking the leaves of plants, pursuing insects, 
Or catching at the bubbles as they brake ; 
Till on some minor fry, in reedy shallows, 
With flapping pinions and unsparing beaks, 
The well-taught scholars plied their double art, 
To fish in troubled waters, and secure 
The petty captives in their maiden pouches ; 
Then hurry with their banquet to the shore, 
With feet, wings, breast, half swimming and half flying • 
And when their wings grew strong to fight the storm, 
And buffet with the breakers on the reef. 
The parents put them to severer proofs." 

As the fleet now slowly sailed against the strong current of the Bahr 
Giraffe, I walked along the bank with Lieutenant Boker, and shot ten of 
the large francolin partridges, which, in this dry season, were very 
numerous. The country was, as usual, flat, but, bearing due south of the 
Bahr Giraffe junction, about twelves miles distant, is a low granite hill, 
partially covered with trees; this is the first of four similar low hills that 
are the only rising points above the vast prairie of flat plain. 

As we were walking along the bank I perceived an animal ascending 
(i-on\ tiic river about two hundred yards distant, where it had evidently 
been drinking ; we immediately endeavored to cut off its retreat, when it 



508 



V/ONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



suddenly emerged from the grass and discovered a fine lion with large 
shaggy mane. The king of beasts, as usual, would not stand to sliow 
fight in the open field, but bounded off in the direction of the rocky hi is. 

The lie treat. 

The explorers had to return. Quoting from his journal Baker sa\ s : 

All the vessels are stuck fast for want of water! This is terrible. 
I went on in advance of my diahbeeah, accompanied by Mrs. Baker, for 
about three miles to explore. Throughout this distance the greatest 
depth was about four feet, and the average was under three feet. At 
length the diahbeeah, which drew only two feet three inches, was fast 
aground ! This was at a point where two raised mounds, or dubbas, 
were on opposite sides of the river. I left the vessel, and, with one 
of my men, explored in the rowing-boat for about two miles in advance. 
After the first mile, the boat grounded in about six inches of water upon 
firm sand. The river, after having deepened for a short space, was sud- 
denly divided into three separate channels, all of which were too shallow 
for the passage of the diahbeeah, and two were even too shallow to admit 
the small-boat. The boatmen jumped out, and we hauled her up the 
shallows until we reached the main stream, above the three channels, but 
having no greater mean depth than about two feet six inches. 

We continued for some distance up the stream with the same unfortu- 
nate results. The banks, although flooded during the wet season, were 
now dry, and a forest was about a mile distant. Having left the boat 
and ascended a white ant-l]ill about eight feet high, in order to take a 
view of the country, I observed a herd of very beautiful antelopes, of a 
kind that were quite unknown to me. 

There is no change so delightful as a little sport, if you are in low 
spirits; thus, taking the rifle, I rowed up the river for about half a mile 
in the small boat, and then landing, I obtained the right wind. It was 
exceedingly difficult to approach game in these extensive treeless flats, 
and it would have been quite impossible, had it not been for the innu- 
merable hills of the white ants; these are the distinguishable features of 
these swampy countries, and the intelligence of the insects directs their 
architecture to a height far above the level of the highest floods. The 
earth used in their construction is the subsoil brought up from a consid- 
erable depth; as the ant-hills are yellow, while the surface-soil is black. 
The earth is first swallowed by the insect, and thus it becomes mixed with 
some albuminous matter, which converts it into a cement that resists the 
action of rain. 

These hills were generally about eight feet high in the swampy districts, 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 509 

but I have frequently seen them above ten feet. The antelopes make use 
of such ant-hills as they can ascend as watch-towers, from which lofty 
position they can observe an enemy at a great distance. It is the custom 
of several varieties to place sentries while the herd is grazing; and upon 
this occasion, although the sentry was alone visible, I felt sure that the 
herd was somewhere in his neighborhood, I have noticed that the sen- 
tries are generally bulls. On this occasion I resolved, if possible, to stalk 
the watchman. The grass was very low, and quite green, as it had been 
fired by the wandering natives some time since ; thus, in places, there 
were patches of the tall, withered herbage that had been only partially 
consumed by the fire while unripe : these patches were an assistance in 

stalking. 

A Very Beautiful Animal. 

It was, of course, necessary to keep several tall ant-hills in a line with 
that upon which the antelope was standing, and to stoop so low that I 
could only see the horns of the animal upon the sky-line. . In some 
places it was necessar}^ to crawl upon the ground. This was trying work, 
on account of the sharp stumps of the burned herbage, which punished 
the hands and knees. The fine charcoal dust from the recent fire was 
also a trouble, as the wind blew it into the eyes. The water-mark upon 
the ant-hills was about eighteen inches above the base, proving the height 
of the annual floods; and a vast number of the large water-helix, the size 
of a man's fist, lay scattered over the ground, destroyed and partially cal- 
cined by the late prairie fire. 

The sun was very hot, and I found crawling so great a distance a 
laborious operation; my eyes were nearly blinded with perspiration and 
charcoal dust; but every now and then, as I carefully raised my head, I 
could distinguish the horns of the antelope in the original position. At 
length I arrived at the base of the last ant-hill, from which I must take 
my shot. 

There were a few tufts of low scrub growing on the summit. To these 
I climbed ; and digging my toes firmly into an inequality in the side of the 
hill, I planted my elbows well on the surface, my cap being concealed by 
the small bushes and tufts of withered grass. The antelope was standing 
unconsciously about one hundred and eighty yards from me, perfectly 
motionless, and much resembling a figure fixed upon a pedestal. I was 
delighted with my capture. It was a very beautiful animal, about thir- 
teen hands high at the shoulder, the head long, the face and ears black, 
also the top < f ilv^ h^ail ; llv:; bod\- bright bay, with a stripeof black about 
fifteen inches in widtii extending obliquely across the shoulder, down both 




(510) 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 511 

the fore and the hind legs, and meeting at the rump. The tail was long 
with a tuft of long black hair at the extremity. The horns were deeply 
annulated, and curved backward toward the shoulders. 

In Camp. 

On the 1st of May Baker established a camp at Tewfikayah. Here he 
was visited by the king of the Shillooks, a well-known tribe. A descrip- 
tion of this tribe will be of interest in this connection, only a brief men- 
tion having been made of it in a preceding chapter. 

The Shillooks are a tall and fine-made race of men, approaching very 
closely to the Negro, being black, with woolly hair. The flat nose and 
enormous lips of the true Negro are, however, absent, and only in a few 
cases is there an approach toward that structure. 

The Shillook men are very fond of ornament. Their ornaments con- 
sist chiefly of iron bracelets, anklets, and bead necklaces, and shoulder 
and waist garments made of feathers. Caps of black ostrich plumes 
decorate their heads, and many of these caps are ornamented with a 
circle of cowrie-shells. Their weapons are clubs and lances, the latter 
having iron wire twisted round the butt, so as to counter-balance the 
head. They also carry a remarkable bow-like shield. 

The women wear no clothes until marriage, and then assume a couple 
of pieces of dressed hide, one in front and the other behind. These 
hides reach nearly to the ankles, and are decorated round the lower 
edge with iron rings and bells. The heads are shaved, and the ears are 
bored all round their edges with a number of holes, from which hang 
small clusters of beads. 

The villages of the Shillooks are built very regularly, and in fact are 
so regular as to be stiff" and formal in appearance. The houses are made 
of reeds, tall, of nearly the same height, and placed close to each other 
in regular rows or streets, and when seen from a distance are compared ' 
by Baker to rows of button mushrooms. 

The Shillooks are very clever in the management of their rafts, which 

they propel with small pebbles; and even the little boys may be seen 

paddling about, not in the least afraid of the swarming crocodiles, but 

always carrying a lance with which to drive off the horrid reptiles if they 

attempt an attack. 

Crafty Trespassers. 

On one occasion the daring Shillooks established a small colony on 
the eastern or Dinka bank of the river, on account of the good pasturage. 
As soon as the Dinka had withdrawn toward the interior, the Shillooks 
crossed over, built a number of reed huts, ran an extemporized fence 



512 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

round them, and then brought over their cattle. They had plenty of 
outposts inland, and as soon as the enemy were reported the Shillooks 
embarked in their rafts, and paddled over to their own side of the river, 
the cattle plunging into the water in obedience to a well-known call, and 
following the canoes and rafts of their masters. Strange to say, the 
crocodiles do not meddle with cattle under such circumstances. 

Aided by their rafts, the Shillooks employ much of their time in fish- 
ing. They do not use either net or hook, but employ the more sports- 
manlike spsar. This weapon is about ten feet in length, and has a 
barbed iron head loosely stuck into the end of the shaft, both being con- 
nected with a slack cord. As soon as the fish is struck, the shaft is dis- 
engaged from the head, and being of light wood floats to the surface, 
and so " plays " the fish until it is exhausted, and can be drawn ashore 
by a hooked stick. The Shillooks often catch fish at random, wading 
through the river against the stream, and striking their spears right and 
left into the water. 

Polygamy is of course practiced among the people. Mr. Petherick 
gives a very amusing description of an interview with a chief and his 
family. 

" At one of these villages, Gosa, with a view to establishing a trade in 
hide, or if possible in ivory, I made the acquaintance of its chief, Dood, 
who, with several of the village elders, entered my boat, the bank being 
crowded with every man, woman, and child of the village. The chief, a 
man past middle age, struck me by his intelligent remarks, and a bearing 
as straightforward as it was dignified and superior to that of his com- 
panions. A few presents of beads were greedily clutched by his attend- 
ants, he, however, receiving them as if they were his due ; and, passing 
an order to one of his men, the trifle I had given him was returned by a 
counter-present of a sheep. On his leaving I requested he would call 
before sunrise, attended by his sons only, when I would make him and 
them suitable presents. 

*' You Don't Know My Family Xet.'* 

" Long before the appointed time Dood and a crowd of men and strip- 
lings, with their inseparable accompaniments of clubs and lances, on the 
shore, woke me from my slumbers; and, as I appeared on deck, a rush 
took place toward me, with cries of ' The Benj ! the Benj ! ' (the chief), 
followed by salutations innumerable. As soon as these shouts subsided, 
Dood, disembarrassing his mouth with some difficulty of a quid of 
tobacco the size of a small orange, sat down by my side. 

" My first remark was astonishment at the number of his followers . 



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(513) 



514 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

having expected none but his sons. ' Oh, 'tis all right : you don't know 
my family yet ; but, owing to your kind promises, I sent to the cattle- 
kraals for the boys ; ' and with the pride of a father he said, ' These are 
my fighting sons, who many a time have stuck to me against the Dinka,. 
whose cattle have enabled them to wed.' 

" Notwithstanding a slight knowledge of Negro families, I was still not 
a little surprised to find his valiant progeny amount to forty grown-up 
men and hearty lads. ' Yes,' he said, * I did not like to bring the girls 
and little boys, as it would look as if I wished to impose upon your 
generosity.' 

" ' What ! more little boys and girls ! What may be their number, and 
how many wives have you ? ' 

" ' Well, I have divorced a good many wives ; they get old, you know; 
and now I have only ten and five.' But when he began to count his 
children, he was obliged to have recourse to a reed, breaking it up into 
small pieces. 

" Like all Negroes, not being able to count beyond ten, he called over 
as many names, which he marked by placing a piece of reed on the deck 
before him ; a similar mark denoted another ten, and so on until he had 
named and marked the number of his children. The sum total, with the 
exception, as he had explained, of babies and children unable to protect 
themselves, was fifty-three boys and twenty girls — seventy-three ! 

" After the above explanation I could no longer withhold presents to 
the host on the shore ; and, pleased with my donations, he invited me to 
his house, where I partook . of merissa and broiled fowl, in which, as a 
substitute for fat, the entrails had been left. Expressing a desire to see 
his wives, he willingly conducted me from hut to hut, where my skm^ 
hair, and clothes underwent a most scrutinizing examination. Each wife 
was located in a separate batch of huts ; and, after having distributed my 
pocketfuls of loose beads to the lady chieftains and their young families, 
in whose good graces I had installed myself, I took leave of the still 
sturdy village chief." 

The code of government among the Shillooks is simple enough. There 
is a sultan or superior officer, who is called the " Meek," and who pos- 
sesses and exercises powers that are almost irresponsible. The Meek 
seems to appreciate the proverb that " familiarity breeds contempt," and 
keeps himself aloof from his own subjects, seldom venturing beyond the 
limits of his own homestead. He will not even address his subjects 
directly, but forces them to communicate with him through the medium 
of an official. Any one who approaches him must do so on his knees, 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 515 

and no One may either stand erect or carry arms in his presence. He exe- 
cutes justice firmly and severely, and especially punishes murder and theft 
among his subjects, the culprit being sentenced to death, and his family 
sold as slaves. 

Theft and murder, however, when committed against other tribes, are 
considered meritorious, and, when a marauding party returns, the Meek 
takes one-third of the plunder. He also has a right to the tusks of all 
elephants killed by them, and he also expects a present from every trader 
who passes through his territory. The Meek will not allow strangers to 
settle within the Shillook territories, but permits them to reside at Kaka, 
a large town on their extreme north. Here many trading Arabs live 
while they are making their fortune in exchanging beads, cattle bells, and 
other articles for cattle, slaves, and ivory. The trade in the latter article 
is entirely carried on by the Meek, who has the monopoly of it, and 
makes the most of his privilege. 

Wholesale Matrimony. 

While at Tewfikeeyah Baker liberated a boat-load of slaves that had 
been captured by the Shillooks. Continuing his narrative he says : I 
ordered the slaves to wash, and issued clothes from the magazine for the 
naked women. On the following day I inspected the captives, and I 
explained to them their exact position. They were free people, and if 
their homes were at a reasonable distance they should be returned. If 
not, they must make themselves generally useful, in return for which they 
would be fed and clothed. 

If any of the women wished to marry, there were many fine young men 
in the regiments who would make capital husbands. I gave each person 
a paper of freedom signed by myself This was contained in a hollow 
reed, and suspended round their necks. Their names, approximate age, 
sex, and country were registered in a book corresponding with the num- 
bers on their papers. 

These arrangements occupied the whole morning. In the afternoon I 
again inspected them. Having asked the officer whether any of the 
negresses would wish to be married, he replied that all the woiiien wished 
to marry, and that they had already selected their husbands ! This was 
wholesale matrimony, that required a church as large as Westminster 
Abbey, and a whole company of clergy ! 

Brown Men All JUted. 

Fortunately, matters are briefly arranged in Africa. I saw the loving 
couples standing hand in hand. Some of the girls were pretty, and my 
black troops had shown good taste in their selection. Unfortunately, 



516 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

however, for the Egyptian regiment, the black ladies had a strong antipathy 
to brown men, and the suitors were all refused. This was a very awkward 
affair. The ladies having received their freedom, at once asserted 
"woman's rights." 

I was obliged to limit the matrimonial engagements ; and those who 
were for a time condemned to single blessedness were placed in charge of 
certain officers, to perform the cooking for the troops and other domestic 
work. I divided the boys into classes ; some I gave to the English work- 
men, to be instructed in carpenter's and blacksmith's work ; others were 
apprenticed to tailors, shoe-makers, etc., in the regiment, while the best- 
looking were selected as domestic servants. A nice little girl, of about 
three years old, without parents, was taken care of by my wife. 
• When slaves are liberated in large numbers there is always a difficulty 
in providing for them. We feel this dilemma when our cruisers capture 
Arab dhows on the east coast of Africa, and our Government becomes 
responsible for an influx of foundlings. Tt is generally quite impossible to 
return them to their own homes ; therefore all that can be done is to 
instruct them in some useful work by which they can earn their liveli- 
hood. If the boys have their choice, they invariably desire a military 
life ; and I believe it is the best school for any young savage, as he is at 
once placed under strict discipline, which teaches him habits of order and 
obedience. The girls, like those of other countries, prefer marriage to 
regular domestic work ; nevertheless, if kindly treated, with a due amount 
of authority, they make fair servants for any rough employment. 

* A liittle Black Pet. 

When female children are about five years old they are most esteemed 
by the slave-dealers, as they can be more easily taught ; and they grow 
up with an attachment to their possessors, and in fact become members 
of the family. 

Little Mostoora, the child taken by my wife, was an exceedingly clever 
specimen of her race ; and although she was certainly not more than 
three years old, she was quicker than most children of double her age. 
With an ugly little face, she had a beautifully shaped figure, and possessed 
a power of muscle that I have never seen in a white child of that age. 
Her lot had fallen in pleasant quarters : she was soon dressed in con- 
venient clothes, and became the pet of the family. 

It was not till December that the fleet quitted Tewfikeeyah, which was 
then dismantled. The Shillook country was left at peace. The treacherous 
governor was disgraced, and the king's sons rewarded. The ships then 
began cutting their way south. One vessel was found sunk, and after 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 517 

many " heart-breaking " disappointments, progress was resumed. A dam 
had to be made to float the fleet, and during all the time the boats and 
working parties were attacked by hippopotami, while disease broke out 
among the soldiers. But on the 15th of April, 1871, the fleet arrived at 
Gondokoro, after traversing an " abandoned country," a distance fourteen 
hundred miles from Khartoum. 

Natives Up in Arms. 
The natives were not pleased at the arrival of Baker, who proceeded 
to annex the country in the name of the Khedive, and issued a procla- 
mation to the effect that everything belonged to the Khedive, and no 
trading must proceed on any other basis. As may be anticipated, such 
measures as these gave considerable offence, and the Bari tribe revolted 
against his authority. They didn't want any government, and on June 
1st an order was issued to the effect that, the Baris having refused obe- 
dience to the proclamation, force was necessary, and would be used 
against them. The capture of women and children was forbidden during 
hostilities, under penalty of death. 

Preparations were made for defence, for the Baris were threatening. 
Soon they came and drove off the cattle, the guards having presumably 
gone away. The thieves were followed, and some of the cattle recap- 
tured. Hostilities were now continuous, and the arrival of a treacherous 
trader, Abou Saood, did not tend to improve matters, and Baker remon- 
strated with him for continuing his friendly relations with the enemies of 
the Government, commanded his withdrawal from the district, and made 
him forfeit his stolen cattle. 

This too lenient conduct was regretted by Baker afterwards, and, 
during the time he remained, the incessant attacks of the Baris and the 
half-hearted service of some of the troops made things very unpleasant, 
and dangerous after a while. The crocodiles, too, were extremely fero- 
cious, and many serious losses were occasioned by their attacks. One 
animal was captured which contained five pounds weight of pebbles in its 
stomach, a necklace, and two armlets, such as worn by the Negro girls. 
A Dangerous Encounter. 

In giving an account of the capture of one of these monsters in the 
early part of the expedition, Baker says: Yesterday, as the men were 
digging out the steamers, which had become jammed by the floating 
rafts, they felt something struggling beneath their feet. They immedi- 
ately scrambled away in time to avoid the large head of a crocodile that 
broke its way through the mass in which it had been jammed and held 
prisoner by the rafts. The black soldiers, armed with swords and bill- 




(518) 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 519 

hooks, immediately attacked the crocodile, who, although freed from 
imprisonment, had not exactly fallen into the hands of the Humane 
Society. He was quickly dispatched, and that evening his flesh glad- 
dened the cooking-pots of the party. 

I was amused with the account of this adventure given by various 
officers who were eye-witnesses. One stated, in reply to my question as 
to the length of the animal, " Well, sir, I should not like to exaggerate, 
but I should say it was forty-five feet long from snout to tail !" Another 
witness declared it to be at least twenty feet ; but if one were seized by 
such a creature he would be disposed to think that, whatever might be 
its length, it is made up mainly of jaws. 

The Baris were still very enterprising, and came night after night to 
attack the expedition. Their wily method of advance, and the silence 
which they observe, make their attack all the more dangerous. The 
passive resistance of Baker had been regarded as cowardice, and one 
evening a grand attack took place. The tribes were driven off, but the 
troops in camp had permitted themselves to be surprised. Baker was 
not at headquarters, and the artillery was " not even thought of! " 

Baker having fortified Gondokoro, which he now named Ismailia, 
quitted it to carry the war into the enemy's country with 450 men. The 
little force met the Baris after a march of thirteen miles, and an attack 
was made on the stockades, which were carried at the point of the bay- 
onet. The Baris bolted, and Baker bivouacked. After some skirmish- 
ing, a treaty was proposed, and an alliance suggested. But treachery 
was at work, and Baker discovering it, attacked the Baris in their stock- 
ades. He then planted ambuscades, and succeeded in beating the Baris 

at their own game. 

Dastardly Traitor. 

The discipline of the troops under him gave Baker considerable unea- 
siness ; they wanted captives, which their commander had forbidden them; 
and after some time his chief captain, Raouf Bey, mutinied. An expe- 
dition was ordered to counteract this, and it succeeded, but the available 
force had been much reduced by Raouf sending so many invalids and 
others to Khartoum without orders. The treacherous trader had also 
done all he could to paralyze the expedition, and things did not look 
hopeful. Baker, however, determined not to be beaten, and he made an 
expedition to the last cataracts of the White Nile. The result was a peace 
with the Baris ; the swift steed and the Snider rifles had subdued the tribes ; 
Abou Saood and his people had departed. 

An expedition to the South was now determined on, and, full of confi- 



520 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

dence, Baker set out to open the communication with the Albert 
Nyanza. 

Says Baker : I knew the risks and the responsibiUty of this undertake 
ing; but I could not remain passive. I had often got through difficul- 
ties, and if risks are to be measured in Africa by ordinary calculations, 
there would be little hope of progress. 

Should my small force meet with defeat or destruction, both the mili- 
tary and civil world would exclaim, " Served him right ! the expedition to 
the interior made under such circumstances showed a great want of judg- 
ment — a total ignorance of the first rules in military tactics. What could 
he expect, without an established communication, at a distance of three or 
four hundred miles from his base ? Simple madness ! — not fit to com- 
mand ! " . 

I determined to carry as large a supply of ammunition as could be 
transported, together with sufficient merchandise, carefully assorted, to 
establish a legitimate Ivory trade in my old friend Kamrasi's country, 
Unyoro. 

I selected my officers and men, carefully avoiding Egyptians, with the 
exception of several true and well-tried men. Several of the officers had 
served in Mexico under Marshal Bazaine. 

The Household. 

Our servants had much improved. The Negro boys who had been 
liberated had grown into most respectable lads, and had learned to wait 
at table, and to do all the domestic work required. First of the boys in 
intelligence was the Abyssinian, Amarn. This delicate little fellow was 
perfectly civilized, and always looked forward to accompanying his mis- 
tress to England. The next was Saat, who had received that name in 
memory of my good boy who died during my former voyage. Saat was 
a very fine, powerful lad, who was exceedingly attached to me, but he 
was not quick at learning. Bellaal was a thick-set, sturdy boy of four- 
teen, with rather a savage disposition, but quick at learning. 

My favorite was Kinyon (the crocodile), the volunteer. This was a. 
very handsome Negro boy of the Bari tribe, who, being an orphan, came 
to my station and volunteered to serve me at the commencement of the 
Bari war. Kinyon was tall and slight, with a pair of very large, expres- 
sive eyes. The name Kinyon, or crocodile in the Bari language, had 
been given him because he was long and thin. Both he and Amarn were 
thoroughly good boys, and never received either chastisement or even a 
scolding throughout a long expedition. 

Jarvah was also a good lad, who went by the name of the " fat boy.'* 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 621 

I should like to have exhibited him as a specimen of physical 
comfort. Jarvah had a good berth ; he was cook's mate. His superior 
was a great character, who, from the low position of a slave presented by 
the king of the Shillooks, had risen from cook's mate to the most import- 
ant position of the household. Abdullah was now the cook ! He had 
studied the culinary art under my first-rate Arab cook, who, havings 
received his discharge, left the management of our stomachs to his pupiL 
Abdullah was an excellent cook, and a very good fellow, but he was dull 
at learning Arabic. He invariably distinguished cocks and hens as 

" bulls " and " women." 

Little «* Cuckoo." 

The last and the smallest boy of the household was little Cuckoo (or 
Kookoo). Cuckoo was a sturdy child about six years old : this boy 
had. I believe, run away from his parents in the Bari during the war, and 
had come to Morgian, our interpreter, when food was scarce among the 
tribe. Following the dictates of his appetite, he had been attracted by 
the savory smell of Abdullah's kitchen, and he had drawn nearer and 
nearer to our establishment, until at length by playing with the boys,. 
and occasionally being invited to share in their meals. Cuckoo had 
become incorporated with the household. 

Abdullah and the six boys formed the native domestic corps. My 
wife, who was their commanding officer, had them all dressed in uniform. 
They had various suits of short, loose trowsers reaching half-way down 
the calf of the leg, with a shirt or blouse secured at the waist with a 
leather belt and buckle. These belts were made in England, and were 
about six feet long ; thus they passed twice round the waist, and were 
veiy useful when travelling, in case of a strap and buckle being required 
suddenly. 

The uniforms were very becoming. There was dark blue trimmed 
with red facings ; pure white with red facings, for high days and holi- 
days ; scarlet flannel suits complete ; and a strong cotton suit dyed 
brown for traveling and rough wear. The boys were trained to change 
their clothes before they waited at the dinner-table, and to return to 
their working dresses after dinner, when washing-up was necessary. In 
this habit they were rigidly particular; and every boy then tied his din- 
ner suit in a parcel, and suspended it to the roof of his hut, to be ready 
for the next meal. There was a regular hour for every kind of work ; 
and this domestic discipline had so far civilized the boys that they were 
of the greatest possible comfort to ourselves. 

The washing-up after dinner was not a very long operation, as half a 



522 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

dozen plates and the same number of knives and forks, with a couple of 
dishes, were divided among six servants. Directly after this work play 
was allowed. If the night were moonlight, the girls were summoned, 
and dancing commenced. During the day their games were either play- 
ing at soldiers, or throwing lances at marks. 

Thieving was quite unknown among the boys, all of whom were 
scrupulously honest. The sugar might be left among them, or even 
milk ; but none of the boys I have mentioned would have condescended 
to steal. They had been so well instructed and cared for by my wife, 
that in many ways they might have been excellent examples for boys of 
their class in civilized countries. 

The foregoing account of those who composed this new expedition for 

the South might be extended. Baker gives a very complete description 

of it. He advanced to Lobore, after a march full of incident, through a 

beautiful country. 

Remarkable Kock. 

Baker was careful to note everything of interest that transpired along 
his journey. Many marvels of nature might be described here, which are 
peculiar to the Tropics. 

Of course a country so extensive as Africa comprises all varieties of 
scenery. There is the beautiful landscape ; there is the broad and flowing 
river ; there are the deep marshes and jungles; and there in some places 
are mountains, if not the loftiest in the world, certainly of majestic pro- 
portions. And one advantage in following the great explorers through 
the Dark Continent is that we obtain a definite idea of the general appear- 
ance of the country and of the geological formations, and we emerge from 
this same Dark Continent feeling that we have been in a world of wonders. 

In one part of his expedition Baker came upon a very singular rock. 
It was a formation very unusual, called by the natives " table rock." It 
will be seen from the accompanying illustration that the projection of the 
table over the pedestal on which it stands is so great that cattle may find 
shelter under it. The rock forms a natural protection to man and beast. 
This rock was considered so singular that an engraving of it has been 
made, and we here reproduce it. It is only one of many marvellous 
geological formations belonging to Africa. 

An Old Superstition. 

This rock must have chanced to fall upon a mass of extremely hard 
clay. The wearing away of the sloping surface, caused by the heavy 
rains of many centuries, must be equal to the present height of the clay 
pedestal, as all the exterior has been washed away, and the level reduced. 




(523) 



524 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The clay pedestal is the original earth, which, having been protected 
from the weather by the stone roof, remains intact. 

The Baris, says Baker, seemed to have some reverence for this stone ; 
and we were told that it was dangerous to sleep beneath it, as many peo- 
ple who had tried the experiment had died. I believe this superstition is 
simply the result of some old legends concerning the death of a person 
who may have been killed in his sleep by a stone that probably detached 
and fell from the under surface of the slab. I examined the rock care- 
fully, and found many pieces that gave warning of scaling off. Several 
large flakes, each weighing some hundred-weight, lay beneath the table- 
rock, upon the under surface of which could be distinctly traced the 
mould of the slab beneath. 

On tlie March. • , 

At length Baker arrived at Fatiko, where his old enemy, Abou Saood, 
again endeavored to annoy him and thwart the expedition. His treachery 
was afterwards carried to greater lengths. 

On all these marches game of various kinds was found, and many 
exciting captures are related. The following thrilling account is given in 
Baker's own words : 

I had been observing the country for some time from my high station, 
when I suddenly perceived two rhinoceroses emerge from a ravine ; they 
walked slowly through a patch of high grass, and skirted the base of the 
hill upon which we were standing; presently they winded something, 
and they trotted back^ and stood concealed in the patch of grass. 
Although I had a good view of them from my present position, I knew 
that I should not be able to see them in their covert if on the same level ; 
I therefore determined to send to the tent for my other horses, and to ride 
them down if I could not shoot them on foot ; accordingly, I sent a man 
off, directing him to lead the horse I had been riding from the peak and 
to secure him to a tree at the foot of the hill, as I was afraid the rhinoce- 
ros might observe the horse upon the sky line. This he did, and we saw 
him tie the horse by the bridle to the branch of a tree below us, while he 
ran quickly towards the camp. 

In the meantime I watched the rhinoceroses ; both animals laid down 
in the yellow grass, resembling masses of stone. They had not been 
long in this position before we noticed two pigs wandering through the 
grass directly to windward, toward the sleeping rhinosceroses ; in an instant 
these animals winded the intruders, and starting up they looked in all 
directions but could not see them, as they were concealed by the high 
grass. 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 525 

Having been thus disturbed, the rhinosceroses moved their quarters 
and walked slowly forward, occasionally halting and listening ; one was 
about a hundred yards in advance of the other. They were taking a 
direction at the base of the hill that would lead them directly upon the spot 
where my horse was tied to the tree. I observed this to one of my men, 
as I feared they would kill .the horse. " Oh, no," he replied, " they will lie 
down and sleep beneath the first tree, as they are seeking for shade — the 
sun is like fire." 

The Rliinoceros Attacks the Horse. 

However, they still continued their advance, and upon reaching some 
rising ground, the leading rhinoceros halted, and I felt sure that he had 
a clear view of the horse, that was now about five hundred yards distant, 
tied to the tree. A ridge descended to the hill, parallel with the course 
the animals were taking ; upon this I ran as quickly as the stony slope 
permitted, keeping my eye fixed upon the leading rhinoceros, which, with 
his head raised, was advancing directly towards the horse. I now felt 
convinced that he intended to attack it. The horse did not observe the 
rhinoceros, but was quietly standing beneath the tree. I ran as fast as I 
was able, and reached the bottom of the hill just as the willful brute was 
within fifty yards of the horse, which now for the first time saw the 
approaching danger ; the rhinoceros had been advancing steadily at a 
walk, but he now lowered his head and charged at the horse at full speed. 

I was about two hundred yards distant, and for the moment I was 
afraid of shooting the horse, but I fired one of my rifles, and the bullet, miss- 
ing the rhinoceros, dashed the sand and stones into his face as it struck 
the ground exactly before his nose, when he appeared to be just into the 
unfortunate horse. The horse in the same instant reared, and breaking 
the bridle, dashed away in the direction of the camp, while the rhinoceros, 
astonished at the shot, and most likely half blinded by the sand and 
splinters of rock, threw up his head, turned round, and trotted back upon 
the track by which he had arrived. He passed me about a hundred 
yards distant, as I had run forward to a bush, by which he trotted with 
his head raised, seeking for the cause of his discomfiture. 
*' Reeling- to and Fro." 

Crack ! went a bullet against his hide, as I fired my remaining oarrel 
at his shoulder ; he cocked his tail, and for a few yards charged towards 
the shot ; but he suddenly changed his course and ran round several 
times in a small circle ; he then halted, and reeling to and fro, retreated 
very slowly, and laid down about a hundred yards off. I knew that he 
had his quietus, but I was determined to bag his companion, which in 



526 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



alarm had now joined him and stood looking in all quarters for the source 
of danger ; but we were well concealed behind the bush. 




Presently, the wounded rhinoceros stood up, and walking very slowly, 
followed by his comrade, he crossed a portion of rising ground at the 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 527 

base of the hill, and both animals disappeared. I at once started off 
one of my men, who could run like an antelope, in search of the horse, 
while I despatched another man to the summit of the peak to see if the 
rhinoceroses were in view ; if not, I knew they must be among the small 
trees and bushes at the foot of the hill. I thus waited for a long time, 
until at length the two greys arrived with my messenger from the camp. 
I tightened the girths of the Arab saddle, and had just mounted, cursing 
all Arab stirrups, that are only made for the naked big toe, when my 
eyes were gladdened by the sight of my favorite animal cantering 
towards me, but from the exact direction the rhinoceroses had taken. 
" Quick ! quick !" cried the rider, " come along ! One rhinoceros is 
lying dead close by, and the other is standing beneath a tree not far off." 

I immediately started, found the rhinoceros lying dead about two 
hundred yards from the spot where he had received the shot, and I, 
immediately perceived the companion standing beneath a small tree. The 
ground was firm and stony, and all the grass had been burnt off except 
in a few small patches ; the trees were not so thick together as to form a 
regular jungle. 

** The KMnoceros Lay Kicking on the Ground." 

The rhinoceros saw us directly, and valiantly stood and faced me as I 
rode up within fifty yards of him. I was unable to take a shot in this 
position, therefore I ordered the men to ride round a half-circle, as I knew 
the rhinoceros would turn towards the white horses and thus expose his 
flank ; this he did immediately, and firing well, exactly at the shoulder, 
I dropped him as though stone dead. The rhinoceros lay kicking upon 
the ground, and I thought he was bagged. Not a bit of it ! the bullet 
had not force to break the massive shoulder-bone, but had merely 
paralyzed it for the moment; up he jumped and started off in full gallop. 
Now for a hunt! up the hill he started, then obliquely; choosing a 
regular rhinoceros path, he scudded away, my horse answering to the 
spur and closing with him ; through the trees, now down the hill over 
the loose rocks, where he gained considerably upon the horse. I took 
a pull at the reins until I reached the level ground beneath, which was 
firm and first-rate. This gave me just the advantage I needed for suc- 
cessful operations. 

I saw the rhinoceros pelting away about a hundred and twenty yards 
ahead, and spurring hard, I shot up to him at full speed until within 
twenty yards, when round he came with astonishing quickness and 
charged straight at the horse. I was prepared for this, as was my horse 
also; we avoided him by a quick turn, and again renewed the chase, and 



528 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

regained our position within a few yards of the game. Thus the hunt 
continued for about a mile and a half, the rhinoceros occasionally charg- 
ing, but always cleverly avoided by the horse, which seemed to enjoy the 
fun, and hunted like a greyhound. Nevertheless I had not been able to 
pass the rhinoceros ; he had thundered along at a tremendous pace when- 
ever I had attempted to close ; however, the pace began to tell upon his 
wounded shoulder ; he evidently went lame, and as I observed at some 
distance before us the commencement of the dark-colored rotten ground, 
I felt sure that it would shortly be a case of " stand still." In this I was 
correct, and upon reaching the deep and crumbling soil, he turned sharp 
around, made a clumsy charge that I easily avoided, and stood panting at 
bay. One of my men was riding a very timid horse which was utterly 
useless as a hunter, but, as it reared and plunged upon seeing the rhi- 
noceros, that animal immediately turned towards it with the intention of 
charging. Riding close to his flank, I fired both barrels of my rifle into 
the shoulder ; he fell at the shots, and stretching out his legs convulsively, 
he died immediately. 

This was a capital termination to the hunt, as I had expected the death 
of my good horse, when the first rhinoceros had so nearly horned him. 
The sun was like a furnace, therefore I rode straight to camp and sent 
men and camels for the hides and flesh. As I passed the body of the 
iirst rhinoceros, I found a regiment of vultures already collected around it. 

Arrival in XJnyoro. 

Passing on, Baker reached Masindi, in Unyoro, The king was visited, 
and he expressed pleasure at Baker's arrival. He also gave accounts of 
the bad behavior of Abou Saood. The king is described as an " undig- 
nified lout of twenty years of age, who thought himself a great monarch." 
He turned out a spy, and was evidently not to be trusted. The natives 
were suspicious, Abou Saood treacherous, and the position in Masindi 
Avas becoming more strained. However, Unyoro was annexed to the 
Khedive's dominions with some ceremony ; but after a while, sonie poi- 
soned plantain cider having been sent as a present, and nearly proved 
fatal to many, Baker prepared for resistance. But ere he could lay his 
plans, the natives suddenly rose, and a fierce conflict ensued. 

The battle lasted an hour and a quarter : the natives were diefeated, 
their capital destroyed. Baker lost several men, and his valued servant 
Mansoor amongst them. The march was continued to Foweera, on the 
Victoria Nile, fighting all the time ; and while at that place Baker heard 
how Abou Saood had planned the attack and the poisoning at Masindi. 
Until January, 1873, Baker and his brave wife remained in the country. 



A RENOWNED EXPEDITION. 529 

using severe discipline ; but at last peace and prosperity were estab- 
lished. 

Abou Saood was put in irons and sent to Cairo ; but he was set free 
to trouble Colonel " Chinese" Gordon, who succeeded Baker, and whose 
expedition resulted in important consequences to Central Africa. 

Colonel Gordon reached Khartoum in March, 1874, and met the same 
" sudd," or vegetable obstruction, on the White Nile. The dam broke, 
and carried ships and animals for miles. The scene is described as ter- 
rific. Gordon quickly reached Gondokoro after this. He was accom- 
panied by Geori, an Italian; Colonel Mason, Purdy Bey, and Colonel 
Long, Americans. Visits were made, and geographical observations 
and discoveries pursued. Darfour was conquered, and its cruel blind 
ruler made captive. Gordon returned to England in 1879, and went to 
India. When, in 1884, on the point of proceeding to the Congo for the 
International Association, he was dispatched by the Liberal Govern- 
ment to pacify the Soudan. Hostilities were excited against him and he 
lost his life, a brave hero to the last. 

For a long time there was a vast amount of speculation concerning 
Gordon's fate. The difficulty of obtaining news from the Soudan pre- 
vented the outside world from arriving at a definite conclusion as to 
whether he had been murdered or was still living. The miraculous 
escapes he had already experienced, the wonderful nerve and resolution 
characterizing him, the charmed life he had hitherto lived, overcoming 
all obstacles, escaping from all plots, and proving himself apparently 
superior to death itself, threw around him such an almost superhuman 
character that it was believed he must still be living, although news came 
of his death. Slowly the world was compelled to accept the unwelcome 
intelligence that the great hero of the Soudan, the most marvelous fig- 
ure standing against the sky of the Orient, had fallen before the spears 

of his foe?. 

34 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 

Speke and Grant on the March— Soldiers and Hottentots — Red Flannel and Wooly 
Heads — Dividing the Duties of the Expedition— Strike for Higher Wages^ 
Rogues and Robbers— Excessive Politeness to Women —Polishing the African 
Skin — Natives Who Run and Hide— Black Boys Badly Scared — Speke on a 
Rhinoceros Hunt— Desperate Struggle to Obtain a Prize — Hunter Tossed Sky- 
ward — An Extraordinary Animal — Use of the Rhinoceros Horn — Peculiar Eyes — 
Habits of the Great Beast— A Match for the Swiftest Horse — A Hot Pursuit — 
Singular and Fatal Wound— A Rhinoceros in London — The Wild Beast Tamed — 
Fire-eating Monster — The Explorers Meet a Rogue — Kind Attentions of an Old 
Friend — Singular African Etiquette— How a Wife Welcomes Her Husband Back 
From a Journey — Murder and Plunder — Speke Obtains Freedom for a Slave — 
Horrid Cannibals — A Popular African Drink — How "Pomba " is Made — Arrival 
at Mininga — A Leader Who Was Named "Pig" — Obstinacy and Stupidity — 
Chief Who Wanted to See a White Man— Sly Tricks of the " Pig "—A Steady 
Old Traveller — Illness of the Explorer — Reception by a Friendly Chief— Alarm- 
ing News — Persistent Demands for Tribute — Necklaces of Coral Beads — The 
Explorer's Guides Forsake Him — Hurried Tramp of Men — Arrival of Grant's 
Porters. 

eAPTAIN SPEKE, who had ah-eady made two expeditions inta 
Africa — on the second of which he discovered the great lake, 
Victoria Nyanz^ — started, on the 30th of July, 1858, on a third 
expedition, in the hopes of proving that the Nile has its source 
in that lake. He was accompanied by an old Indian brother officer. 
Captain Grant. 

Having reached the island of Zanzibar, where some time was spent in 
collecting a sufficient band of followers, they left Zanzibar on the 25th of 
September, in a corvette placed at their disposal by the sultan, and 
crossed over to Bagamoyo, on the mainland. 

They had, as their attendants, ten men of the Cape Mounted Rifles, 
who were Hottentots ; a native commandant. Sheikh Said ; five old black 
sailors, who spoke Hindostanee; in addition to Bombay, Speke's former 
attendant, factotum, and interpreter, a party of sixty-four Wagnana 
blacks, emancipated from slavery; and fifteen porters of the interior. 
The two chief men, besides Said, were Bombay and Baraka, who com- 
manded the Zanzibar men. Fifty carbines were distributed among the 
elder men of the party, and the sheikh was armed with a double-barrelled 
rifle, given to him by Captain Speke. The sultan also sent, as a guard 
(530) 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 531 

of honor, twenty-five Beloochs, with an officer, to escort them as far as 
Uzaramo, the country of the Wazaramo. They had also eleven mules to 
carry ammunition, and five donkeys for the sick. 

Their whole journey was to be performed on foot. As there were no 
roads, their luggage was carried on the backs of men. 
Red Flannel and Wooly Heads. 

Some time was spent among the porters in squabbling, and arranging 
their packs. Their captain, distinguishable by a high head-dress of 
ostrich plumes stuck through a strip of scarlet flannel, led the march, 
flag in hand, followed by his gang of wooly-haired negroes, armed with 
spears or bows and arrows, carrying their loads either secured to three- 
pronged sticks or, when they consisted of brass or copper wire, hung at 
each end of sticks laid on the shoulder. The Waguana followed in 
helter-skelter fashion, carrying all sorts of articles, next came the Hot- 
tentots, dragging the mules with the ammunition, whilst lastly marched 
the sheikh and the Belooch escort, the goats and women, the sick and 
stragglers bringing up the rear. 

One of the Hottentot privates soon died, and five others were sent back 
sick. About thirty Seedees deserted, as did nearly all the porters, while 
the sheikh also soon fell sick. 

On the 2d of October, having bid farewell to Colonel Rigby, the Brit- 
ish consul at Zanzibar, who took deep interest in the expedition, and 
afforded it every assistance in his power, the march began. 

They had first before them a journey of five hundred miles to Caze, 
the capital of the country of the Moon. This was a small portion, how- 
ever, only of the distance to be performed. 

Captains Speke and Grant divided the duties of the expedition 
between them, the first mapping the country, which is done by timing 
the rate of march, taking compass-bearings, noting the water-shed, etc. 
Then, on arriving in camp, it was necessary to boil the thermometer to 
ascertain the altitude of the station above the sea-level, and the latitude 
by the meridional altitude of a star ; then, at intervals of sixty miles, 
lunar observations had to be taken to determine the longitude ; and, 
lastly, there was the duty of keeping a diary, sketching, and making 
geological and zoological collections. Captain Grant made the botanical 
collections and had charge of the thermometer. He kept the rain-gauge 
and sketched with water colors, for it was found that photography was 
too severe work for the climate. 

The march was pursued before the sun was high, then came breakfast 
and a pipe before exploring the neighborhood, and dinner at sunset, then 



532 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



tea and pipe before turning in at night. Scarcely had they commenced 
the journey than the petty chiefs demanded tribute, which it was neces- 
sary to pay. The porters also struck for higher wages ; but, the leaders 
going on, they thought better of the matter, and followed. 

The poor Hottentots suffered much from the climate, and were con- 
stantly on the sick-list. The Waguana treated them with great contempt, 
and one day, while a little Tot was trying to lift his pack on his mule, a 
large black grasped him, pack and all, in his muscular arms, lifting them 
above his head, paraded him around the camp amid much laughter, and 
then, putting him down, loaded his mule and patted him on the back. 




WAZARAMO VILLAGE. 

" A day's march being concluded, the sheikh and Bombay arrange the 
camp, issuing cloths to the porters for the purchase of rations, the tents 
are pitched, the Hottentots cook, some look after the mules and donkeys, 
others cut boughs for huts and fencing, while the Beloochs are supposed 
to guard the camp, but prefer gossiping and brightening their arms, 
while Captain Grant kills two buck antelopes to supply the larder." 

The country through which they were passing belongs to the tribe of 
Wazaramo. It is covered with villages, the houses of which are mostly 
of a conical shape, composed of hurdle-work and plastered with clay, and 
thatched with grass or reeds. They profess to be the subjects of the 
Sultan of Zanzibar. They are arrant rogues, and rob travellers, when 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 533 

they can, by open violence. They always demand more tribute than 
they expect to get, and generally use threats as a means of extortion. 
One of their chiefs, the Lion-Claw, was very troublesome, sending back 
the presents which had been made him, and threatening dire vengeance 
if his demands were not complied with. Further on, Monkey's-Tail, 
another chief, demanded more tribute ; but Speke sent word that he 
should smell his powder if he came for it ; and, exhibiting the marks- 
manship of his men, Monkey's-Tail thought better of it, and got nothing. 
Excessive Politeness to Women. 

The people, though somewhat short, are not bad-looking. Though 
their dress is limited, they adorn themselves with shells, pieces of tin^ 
and beads, and rub their bodies with red clay and oil, till their skins 
appear like new copper. Their hair is wooly, and they twist it into a 
number of tufts, each of which is elongated by the fibres of bark. They 
have one good quality, not general in Africa : the men treat the women 
with much attention, dressing their hair for them, and escorting them to 
the water, lest any harm should befall them. 

Kidunda was soon reached. Hence the Belooch escort was sent back 
the next day, with the specimens of natural history which had been col- 
lected. Proceeding along the Kinganni River they reached the country 
of the Usagara, a miserable race, who, to avoid the slave-hunters, build 
their villages on the tops of hills, and cultivate only just as much land 
among them as will supply their wants. Directly a caravan appears, 
they take to flight and hide themselves, never attempting resistance if 
overtaken. Their only dress consists of a strip of cloth round the 
waist. 

Captain Grant was here seized with fever, and the sickness of the Hot- 
tentots much increased. A long day's march from the hilly Usagara 
country led the party into the comparatively level land of Ugogo. Food 
was scarce, the inhabitants living on the seed of the calabash to save 
their stores of grain. 

The country has a wild aspect, well in keeping with the natives who 
occupy it. The men never appeared without their spears and shields. 
They are fond of ornaments, the ordinary one being a tube of gourd 
thrust through the lower lobe of the ear. Their color is somewhat like 
that of a rich plum. Impulsive and avaricious, they forced their way into 
the camp to obtain gifts, and thronged the road as the travellers passed by, 
jeering, quizzing, and pointing at them. 

Later they encamped on the eastern border of the largest clearing in 
Ugogo, called Kanyenye, stacking their loads beneath a large gouty- 




\"^^^^ ^i 



(534) 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 535 

limbed tree. Here eight of the Wanyamuezi porters absconded, carry- 
ing off their loads, accompanied by two Wagogo boys. 

Speke went to shoot a hippopotamus at night. Having killed one, two 
TTiore approacljied in a stealthy, fidgety way. Stepping out from his 
shelter, with the two boys carrying his second rifle, he planted a ball in 
the largest, which brought him round with a roar in the best position for 
receiving a second shot ; but, on turning round to take his spare rifle 
Speke found that the black boys had scrambled off like' monkeys up a 
tree, while the hippopotamus, fortunately for him, shuffled away without 
charging. 

He hurried back to let his people know that there was food for them 
that they might take possession of it before the hungry Wagogo could 
find it. Before, however, they had got the skin off the beast, the natives 
assembled like vultures, and began fighting the men. The scene, though 
grotesque, was savage and disgusting in the extreme ; they fell to work 
with swords and hatchets, cutting and slashing, thumping and bawling, 
up to their knees in the middle of the carcass. When a tempting morsel 
was obtained by one, a stronger would seize it and bear off the prize — 
right was now might. Fortunately no fight took place between the 
travellers and the villagers. The latter, covered with blood, were seen 
scampering home, each with a part of the spoil. 
Hunter Tossed Skjrw^ard, 

A dangerous brute to encounter is the rhinoceros. He is ferocious, 
swift, strong, with a very tough hide, and whether his foe is man or beast, 
he is not likely to come out second best in a combat. The following 
account of what befel a party of travellers will show the fury of this 
Tropical brute. 

The narrator says : "As meat was wanted, several of the party pro- 
posed to set off at an early hour to bring in some from the animals we 
had killed. As I did not like to be left behind, I begged to be allowed 
to mount a horse and to ride with them. I should have been wiser to 
have remained quietly at the camp, but I wanted to revisit the scene of 
our encounter the previous day. Several of the blacks followed behind, who 
were to be loaded with our spoils. As we neared the spot, I heard my friends 
exclaiming in various tones : ' Where is it ? What has become of the 
creature ? * and, pushing forward, I caught sight of the elephant and the 
dead lion at a distance, but nowhere was the rhinoceros to be seen. 
It was very evident that it could not have been killed as we had sup- 
posed, and that, having only been stunned, it, at length, recovered itself, 
and had made off. 



636 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



" Toko, one of the party, cried out that he had discovered its trail, 
and I saw him hurrying forward, evidently hoping to find the creature. 
The other blacks meanwhile set to work to cut out the tusks, and select 
a few slices off such parts of the body as were most to their taste, includ- 
ing the feet, the value of which we knew from experience. 




THE ANIMAL SENT HIM INTO THE AIR. 

"While they were thus occupied, my three white friends were busy in 
flaying the lion. I kept my eye on Toko, expecting that, should he dis- 
cover the rhinoceros, he would summon some of the party to his assist- 
ance. I saw him look suspiciously into a thicket, then he turned to fly. 
The next moment a huge beast rushed out, which I had no doubt was 
the rhinoceros we fancied that we had killed on the previous day. Toko 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 537 

made for a tree behind which he could shelter himself. I called to my 
friends to draw their attention to the danger in which he was placed, but 
to my dismay before he could reach .the tree the rhinoceros was upon 
him. There was no time to leap either to the one side or the other, but 
as the animal's sharp horn was about to transfix him, he made a spring- 
as if to avoid it, but he was not in time, and the animal, throwing up his 
head, sent him and his rifle floating into the air to the height of several feet. 

" The rhinoceros then charged on towards the men cutting up the 
elephant, when my uncle and his companions, having seized their rifles,, 
began blazing away at it. Fortunately, one of their shots took effect^ 
and before it had reached the blacks, down it sank to the ground. 

" I had ridden up to the native, expecting to find every bone in his 
body broken. As I approached, to my satisfaction, I saw him get up ; 
and though he limped somewhat, after shaking himself and picking up 
his rifle, he declared that he was not much the worse for the fearful toss 
he had received, and was as ready as ever for work. 

" He soon rejoined the rest of the men, and assisted in packing the 
oxen with the tusks and meat. Some of the flesh of the rhinoceros was 
also cut off, and with the lion-skin packed up. Rhinoceros meat, though 
tough, is of good fl.avor. The portions we carried off were from the 
upper part of the shoulder and from the ribs, where we found the fat and 
lean regularly striped to the depth of two inches. Some of the skin was 
also taken for the purpose of making some fresh ox-whips. We of 
course carried away the horns, which are about half the value of ivory. 
Altogether, the adventure which at one time appeared likely to prove so 
disastrous, afforded us no small amount of booty." 
An Extraordinary Animal. 

The following description of the rhinoceros, as seen by Speke and 
Grant, may appropriately be given here : 

Both varieties of the African black rhinoceros are extremely fierce and 
dangerous, and rush headlong and unprovoked at any object which 
attracts their attention. They never attain much fat, and their flesh is 
tough, and not much esteemed. Their food consists almost entirely of the 
thorny branches of the "wait-a-bit " thorns. Their horns are much shorter 
than those of the other varieties, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in 
length. They are finely polished by constant rubbing against the trees. 
The skull is remarkably formed, its most striking feature being the tre- 
mendous, thick ossification in which it ends above the nostrils. It is on 
this mass that the horn is supported. The horns are not connected with 
the skull, being attached merely by the skin, and they may thus be sep- 



538 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

arated from the head by means of a sharp knife. They are hard, and 
perfectly soHd throughout, and are a fine material for various articles, 
such as drinking-cups, mallets for rifles, and handles for turners' tools. 
The horn is, capable of a very high polish. 

The eyes of the rhinoceros are small and sparkling, but do not readily 
observe the hunter, provided he keep to leeward of them. The skin is 
extremely thick, and only to be penetrated with bullets hardened with 
solder. During the day, the rhinoceros will be found lying asleep, or 
standing indolently in some retired part of the forest, or under the base 
of the mountains, sheltered from the power of the sun by some friendly 
grove of umbrella-topped mimosas. In the evening they commence their 
nightly ramble, and wander over a great extent of country. They usually 
visit the fountains between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock at 
night, and it is on these occasions that they may be most successfully 
hunted, and with the least danger. 

The black rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often 
plowing up the ground for several yards with its horn, and assaulting 
large bushes in the most violent manner. On these bushes they work for 
hours with their horns, at the same time snorting and blowing loudly ; 
nor do they leave them in general until they have broken them into 
pieces. All the four varieties delight to roll and wallow in the mud, with 
which their rugged hides are generally encrusted. 

A Matcli for the Swiftest Horse. 

Both varieties of the black rhinoceros are much smaller and more 
active than the white, and are so swift that a horse with a rider on its 
back can rarely overtake them, yet they are often hunted with horses. 
Both attain an enormous size, being the animals next in magnitude to the 
elephant. They feed solely on grass, carry much fat, and their flesh is 
excellent, being preferable to beef They are of a much milder and more 
inoffensive disposition than the black rhinoceros, rarely charging their 
pursuer. Their speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties. 

If we examine the skull of a rhinoceros, we shall find that just under the 
place where the root of the horn lies, there is a peculiar development of 
the bone on which the weight of the horn rests. Now, it is well known 
that of all forms intended to support great weight, the arch is the strong- 
est. Such, then, is the form of the bone which supports the horn ; and 
in order to prevent the jar on the brain which would probably injure the 
animal when making violent strokes with the horn, one side of the arch is 
left unsupported by its pillar ; so that the whole apparatus presents the 
appearance of a strong bony spring, which, although very pow^erful, would 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 



539 



yield sufficiently on receiving a blow to guard the animal from the shock 
which would occur, were the horn to be placed directly on the skull. 




1 /i^^,^;'> 









^W 






^? 






i'il M»..^rT- r^ ._., V^fe - *--* "-# 

Such a structure as this is not needed in the case of the elephant, as that 
animal never strikes violently with its tusks, as the rhinoceros does with 
its horn. 



540 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

That such is the intention of the structure is well shown by a curious 
circumstance that took place during a rhinoceros-hunt, and which shows 
that the animal can suffer severely from a blow on the horn, if that blow 
is given in a different method from that which the creature is in the habit 
of enduring. 

A Hot Pursuit. 

Some hunters were engaged in the pursuit of the rhinoceros, and 
had roused one of the animals from the thicket in which it was 
engaged in rubbing itself against the trees, after the usual fashion of the 
creature. 

The skin, although thick, is very sensitive between the folds, and suffers 
much from the attacks of the mosquitoes and flies. The rhinoceros, to 
allay the irritation, rubs against trees, and has a curious custom of grunting 
loudly while performing this operation, and thus guides the hunter to its 
place of refuge. They are thus enabled to steal through the underwood 
unperceived, as the animal is too much engaged rubbing his sides to pay 
any attention to sounds which would at any other time send him off in 
alarm. By crawling along the ground, after the manner of serpents, they 
generally contrive to inflict a mortal wound before he is aware of their 
presence. 

In the present case, the hunters were endeavoring to act in the same 
manner, but the intended victim became alarmed, broke through the wood,, 
and made the best of his way towards a large cane-brake about two miles 
distant. The whole party jDursued him, and the poor animal was speedily 
overtaken. 

The number and severity of the wounds appear to have confused his 
brain, for instead of keeping his straight course towards the canes, he 
turned off short, and dashed into a narrow gully without any exit. The 
ravine was so narrow that he broke to pieces many of the protruding 
spears as he rushed in, and when he had fairly entered, there was barely 
room to turn. The assailants now had it all their own way, and one of 
them standing on the brink of the ravine took aim at his head, and 
stretched him on the ground apparently lifeless. But scarcely had they 
done this when the animal recovered from his wound, and struggled 
upon his knees. Out went the hunters as fast as they could, and had it 
not been for the presence of mind of one of them, who hamstrung the 
rhinoceros before he ran away, in all probability several of the men would 
have forfeited their lives. 

Curiosity induced the hunters to search for the wound that had thus 
stunned the animal, and they naturally expected to find the track of a 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 641 

ball through the brain, or, at all events, a wound on the skull ; but after 
some search, they found that the ball had only struck the point of the 
foremost horn, and had carried off about an inch of it. 

This is a very curious circumstance, because the blow was a compara- 
tively slight one, and the shocks which the animal inflicts upon itself in 
the daily occurrences of life must be very severe indeed. But the whole 
structure of the head and horn is intended to resist heavy blows, while it 
is not capable of sustaining a sharp, smart shock without conveying the 
impression to the brain. 

Interesting- Brutes. 

About a hundred and fifty years ago, one of these big beasts was 
brought to London from Bengal. He was a very costly animal ; though 
only two years old five thousand dollars were expended in providing him 
with food and drink. Every day he ate seven pounds of rice mixed with 
three pounds of sugar, divided into three portions. He also ate plenti- 
fully of hay, but he much preferred fresh vegetables, grass and herbs. 
He drank a great deal of water. He was so quiet and well-behaved 
that he let people handle him, unless he was annoyed, or wanted his 
breakfast. The well-known specimen in the Zoological Gardens in 
London couldn't bear the noise of the roller used in keeping the gravel 
pathway in order which adjoined his den; his hearing was very quick, 
so that even while enjoying his dinner he stopped, and started aside, to 
listen. 

Bingley gives the following account of a rhinoceros brought to Eng- 
land in 1790. It was then about five years old. It was somewhat 
tamed ; it would walk about when desired to do so by its keeper ; it 
would let visitors pat its back. Its daily allowance was twenty-eight 
pounds of clover, the same quantity of ship biscuit, and an enormous 
amount of greens. It was fond of sweet wines, and would drink four or 
five bottles in a few hours. He made nothing of drinking fifteen pails of 
water in the course of a day. If he saw a person with fruit or any food 
that he was fond of, he would ask for a share, in a very pretty manner 
for so huge a beast, making a noise somewhat like the bleating of a calf. 
He died of inflammation, caused by slipping the joint of one of his fore 
legs. Some doctors made openings in his skin, in order to relieve his 
pain. These were always found quite healed up in the course of twenty- 
four hours. 

There is no doubt that the elephant a!nd rhinoceros sometimes fight to- 
gether madly, when they are in a wild state. Some years ago there was 
'a specimen in the Regent's Park Gardens, that contrived to get into the 



642 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



den of an old elephant there. They were afterwards the best friends in 
the world, and it was amusing to see how quiet the rhinoceros would 
stand while his great friend scrubbed his back with his trunk, and occa- 
sionally gratified himself by a sly pull at his tail, to make the rhinoceros 
turn his head, if his attention was taken off by visitors. 

We have said that the horn is not fastened to the skull, but simply 
connected with his skin. It is not generally known that it can be removed 
by passing a sharp knife round its base. The skin is so strong and thick, 
that it can only be pierced by bullets of a peculiar make. The Negroes 
of Africa know this perfectly well, and make it into shields and bucklers. 
His playful antics are somewhat useful ; thus he will poke his horn into 




PUT TO FLIGHT BY A SUDDEN CHARGE. 

the ground, and then driving it along at a great rate, pushing with all his 
mighty force and strength, he will make a furrow broader and deeper 
than that of a plough. Those who have watched his habits tell us that 
he does this, not because he is in a passion, but in the pure enjoyment 
of health and spirits ; just as when a little boy or girl, or dog or kitten, 
scampers about a lawn. 

Some species of this animal are wild, and can be easily tamed ; the 
powerful Indian rhinoceros is the shyest, and the double-horned the 
wildest. Mason, in his work, entitled "Burmah," remarked that the 
common single-horned rhinoceros is very abundant. The double-horned 
is not uncommon in the southern provinces; and then he alludes to the 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 543 

fire-eater of the Burmans, as distinguished from the common single- 
horned kind. The fire-eating rhinoceros, he tells us, is so called from 
its attacking the night fires of travellers, scattering the burning embers, 
and doing other mischief, being attracted by unusual noises, instead of 
fleeing from them as most wild animals do. Professor Oldham's camp- 
fire was attacked by a rhinoceros, which he fired at with a two-ounce 
ball ; and three days afterwards the body was found, and proved to be of 
the two-horned species. The skull of that individual is now in the mus- 
eum of Trinity College, Dublin. The commonest of the African rhinoc- 
eroses has been known to manifest the same propensity, and so has even 
the ordinary American tapir. In general, however, the Asiatic two- 
horned rhinoceros is an exceedingly shy and timid animal, and one of 
the largest size has been seen to run away from a single wild dog. 
The Explorers Meet a Kogue. 

Returning to our narrative of Speke and Grant, we find that the Sheikh 
Magomba did his utmost to detain them, sending his chief, Wazir, in an 
apparently friendly manner, to beg that they would live in his palace. 
The bait, however, did not take — Speke knew the rogue too well. Next 
day the sheikh was too drunk to listen to anyone, and thus day after 
day passed by. The time was employed in shooting, and a number of 
animals were killed. Magomba, however, induced nearly all of the 
porters to decamp, and there was great difficulty in obtaining others to 
take their places. An old acquaintance, whom they met in a caravan, 
urged them not to attempt to move, as he thought that it would be 
impossible for them to pass through the wilderness depending only on 
Speke and Grant's guns for their support. 

Still Speke resolved to push on, and most of the men who had deserted 
came back. To keep up discipline, one of the porters, who had stolen 
seventy-three yards of cloth, which was found in his kit, received three 
dozen lashes, and, being found to be a murderer and a bad character, he 
was turned out of camp. 

They spent New Year's Day at Round Rock, a village occupied by a 
few Wakimbu, who, by their quiet and domestic manners, made them 
feel that they were out of the forest. Provisions were now obtained by 
sending men to distant villages ; but they were able to supply the camp 
with their guns, killing rhinoceros, wild boar, antelope and zebra. 

In January they entered Unyamuezi, or the country of the moon, 
inferior in size to England, but cut up into numerous petty states. The 
name is abreviated to Weezee. 

Next day they reached Gaze, where Speke had remained long on a 




(544) 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 545 

former visit. His old friend, Musa, came out to meet them, and escorted 
them to his "tembe," or house, where he invited them to reside till he 
could find porters to carry their property to Karague, promising to go 
there with tliem himself. They found here also Sheikh Snay, who with 
other Arab merchants, came at once to call on them. Snay told him 
that he had an army of four hundred slaves prepared to mai'ch against 
the chief, Manua Sera, who was constantly attacking and robbing their 
caravans. Speke advised him not to make the attempt, as he was likely 
to get the worst of it. The other Arab merchant agreed that a treaty of 
peace would be better than fighting. 

Musa gave him much information about the journey northward, and 
promised to supply him with sixty porters from his slave establishment, 
by which arrangement Speke would have a hundred armed men to form 
his escort. Musa loudly praised Rumanika, the King of Karague, 
through whose dominions the expedition was to pass. 

Some time, however, was of necessity spent at Caze in making prepa- 
rations for the journey, the two travellers employing themselves during it 
in gaining information about the country. 

African Etiquette. 

The Wanyamuezi, among whom they were residing, are a polite race, 
having a complete code of etiquette for receiving friends or strangers; 
■drums are beat both on the arrival and departure of great people. When 
one chief receives another, he assembles the inhabitants of the village, 
with their drums and musical instruments, which they sound with all 
their might, and then dance for his amusement. The drum is used, like 
the bugle, on all occasions; and, when the travellers wished to move, the 
drums were beaten as a sign to their porters to take up their burdens. 
The women courtesy to their chief, and men clap their hands and bow 
themselves. If a woman of inferior rank meets a superior, she drops on 
•^one knee and bows her head ; the superior then places her hand on the 
shoulder of the kneeling woman, and they remain in this attitude some 
momerts, whispering a few words, after which they rise and talk freely. 

The Wanyamuezi, or, as they are familiarly called, the Weezee, are 
great traders, and travel to a considerable distance in pursuit of their 
business. 

When a husband returns from a journey, his favorite wife prepares to 
receive him in a peculiar manner. Having put on all her ornaments, to 
which she adds a cap of feathers, she proceeds, with her friends, to the 
^principal wife of the chief, when, the lady coming forth, they all dance 
-before her, taking care to be thus occupied when the husband makes 

35 



546 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



his appearance, a band of music playing away and making as much noise 
as possible with their instruments. 

In February news was brought that Sheikh Snay had carried out his 
intention of attacking Manua Sera, whom he found esconced in a house 
at Tura. Manua, however, made his escape, when Snay plundered the 
whole district, and shot and murdered every one he fell in with, carrying 
off a number of slaves. The chief, in consequence, threatened to attack 
Caze as soon as the merchants had gone off on their expeditions in. 




ANCING PARTY TO WELCOME A RETURNING HUSBAND. 

search of ivory. Soon after this it was reported that Snay and other 
Arabs had been killed, as well as a number of slaves. This proved to be 
true. 

Finding that nothing more could be done at Caze, the travellers, 
assembling their caravan, commenced their march northward. At Min- 
inga they were received by an ivory merchant named Sirboko. Here 
one of Sirboko's slaves, who had been chained up, addressed Speke, pit- 
ebtisly exclaiming : " Oh, my lord, take pity on me ! When I was a 
frdd man, I saw you on the Tanganyika Lake; my people were there 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 547 

attacked by the Watuta, and, being badly wounded, I was left for dead, 
when, recovering, I was sold to the Arabs, If you will liberate me, I 
will never run away, but serve you faithfully." Touched by this appeal, 
Speke obtained the freedom of the poor man from his master, and he was 
christened Farham, or Joy, and enrolled among the other free men. 

The abominable conduct of the Arabs, who persisted in attacking the 
natives and devastating the country, placed the travellers in an awkward 
position. The Hottentots, too, suffered so much from sickness that, as 
the only hope of saving their lives, it was necessary to send them back 
to Zanzibar. Speke therefore found it necessary to return to Caze, 
which he reached in May, leaving Grant, who was ill, behind at 
Mininga. 

Horrid Cannibals. 

He here heard of a tribe of cannibals, who, when they cannot get 
human flesh, give a goat to their neighbors for a dying child, considering 
such as the best flesh. They are, however, the only cannibals in that 
district. 

They were still in the country of the Weezee, of whose curious customs 
they had an opportunity of seeing more. Both sexes are inveterate 
smokers. They quickly manufacture their pipes of a lump of clay and a 
green twig, from which they extract the pith. They all grow tobacco, 
the leaves of which they twist up into a thick rope like a hay-band, and 
then coil it into a flattened spiral, shaped like a target. They are very 
fond of dancing. Meantime, the elders sit on the ground drinking 
" pomba." On one of these occasions the chief, who was present, drank 
more "pomba" than any of the people. 

While the party were thus engaged, two lads, with zebra manes tied 
over their heads, and two bark tubes, formed like huge bassoons, in their 
hands, leaped into the centre of the dancers, twisting and turning and 
blowing their horns in the most extraordinary manner. The men, 
women and children, inspired by the sound of the music, on this began 
to sing and clap their hands in time. 

" Pomba " is a sort of spirituous liquor, produced from a kind of grain' 
grown in the country, which is cultivated by women, who nearly entirely 
superintend the preparation of the drink. 

They received a visit from Sultan Ukulima, of Unyamuezi, a fine hale 
old man, who was especially fond of this beverage, drinking it all day 
long. He was pleasant enough in manner, and rather amusing when he 
happened not to be tipsy. Being fond of a practical joke, he used to 
beg for quinine, which he would mix slyly with "pomba," and then offer 



548 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. ■ 

it to his courtiers, enjoying the wiy faces they made when partaking of 
the bitter draught. He used to go round to the houses of his subjects, 
managing to arrive just as the " pomba-"brewing was finished, when he 
would take a draught, and then go on to the next. He sometimes sucked 
it through a reed, just as a sherry cobbler is taken, while one of his 
slaves held the jar before him. 

HoTV "Poiiiba" is Made. 

The women and men do not drink it together. It is the custom 
of the ladies to assemble in the house of the sultana, and indulge in it in 
her company. 

The women, as has been said, are employed in the cultivation 
of the grain from Avhich it is made. When it is green, they cut off 
the ears witlr a knife. These are then conveyed to the village in 
baskets, and spread out in the sun to dry. The men next thrash out the 
grain with long, thin flails. It is afterwards stacked in the form of corn- 
ricks, raised from the ground on posts, or sometimes it is secured round 
a tall post, which is stuck upright in the ground, swelling out in the 
centre somewhat in the shape of a fisherman's float. When required for 
use, it is pounded in wooden mortars, and afterwards ground between 
two stones. 

Speke reached Mininga again, where he found Grant greatly recov- 
ered. During his absence three villagers had been attacked by a couple 
of lions. The men took to flight, and two gained the shelter of their 
hut, but the third, just as he was about to enter, was seized by the 
monsters and devoured. 

Difficulties of all sorts beset them : the chief was obtainmg porters ; 
Musa, too, who pretended to be so friendly, did not keep faith with 
them ; but, rather than be delayed, Speke paid the beads demanded, and 
once more set off. 

At length he obtained a leader with a droll name, which may be 
translated the Pig. He had frequently conducted caravans to Karague, 
and knew the languages of the country. He proved to be what his 
name betokened — a remarkably obstinate and stupid fellow. 

Speke was still detained by the difficulty of procuring porters, some 
being engaged in harvest, while others declared that they feared the 
Watuta and other enemies in the districts through which they would 
have to pass. An Arab caravan which had followed them was in the 
same condition. 

At length, having obtained a part of the number he required, a camp 
was formed at Phunze, where Grant, with Bombay to attend on him. 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 549 

remained in charge of part of the baggage, while Speke, with the Pig as 
his guide and Baraka as his attendant, pushed on ahead. The chiefs of 
every district through which they passed demanded tribute, without 
which the travellers could not move forward. This caused numberless 
provoking delays, as the chiefs were often not content with what was 
offered to them. 

Early in June he arrived in a district governed by a chief called 
Myonga, famed for his extortions and infamous conduct, in consequence 
of which no Arabs would pass that way. On approaching his palace, 
war-drums were heard in every surrounding village. The Pig went 
forward to obtain terms for the caravan to jjass by. Myonga replied 
that he wished to see a white man, as he had never yet set eyes on one. 




PECULIAR AFRICAN BULLOCK. 

and would have a residence prepared for him. Speke declined the favor, 
but sent Baraka to arrange the tribute. Baraka amused himself, as 
usual, for some hours, with firing off volleys of ammunition, and it was 
not till evening that the palace drums announced that the tribute had 
been settled, consisting of six yards of cloth, some beads, and other 
articles. On this Speke immediately gave orders to commence the 
march, but two cows had been stolen from the caravan, and the men 
declared that they would not proceed without getting them back. 
Speke knew that if he remained more cloths would be demanded, and as 
soon as the cows arrived he gave them to the villagers. 

This raised a mutiny among his men, and the Pig would not show the 
way, nor would a single porter lift his load. Speke would not enter the 



550 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

village, and his party remained, therefore outside all night. The next 
morning, as he expected, Myonga sent his prime minister, who declared 
that the ladies of his court had nothing to cover their nakedness, and 
that something more must be paid. This caused fresh difficulties, the 
drums beat, and at length, much against his inclination, Speke paid some 
more yards of cloth for the sake of Grant, who might otherwise have 
been annoyed by the scoundrel. 

The "Pig-'s** Dislionest Tricks. 

This is a specimen of some of the lighter difficulties which the trav- 
ellers had to encounter on their journey. Having passed a number of 
villages, they entered a tract of jungle in which a stream formed the 
boundary between the great country of the Moon and the kingdom of 
Uzinga. The district Speke next entered was ruled by two chieftains 
descended from Abyssinians. They were as great extortioners, however, 
as any of the pure Negro race. 

The Pig continued his tricks, and the travellers were heavily taxed and 
robbed at every step. The porters, too, refused to advance, declaring 
that they should be murdered, as the Watuta, their great enemies, were 
out on a foray ; finally, they ran away and hid themselves. These 
Watutu, they said, were desperate fellows, who had invaded their coun- 
try and killed their wives and children, and had despoiled them of every- 
thing they held dear. Baraka also showed the white feather. Speke, 
however, put on a bold front, and declared that he would return to Caze 
and collect men who would not be afraid to accompany him to Usui. He 
carried his plan into execution, rejoined Grant, and obtained two fresh 
guides, Bui and Nasib, a steady old traveller. Still he was unable to 
obtain fresh porters to carry on his baggage, and he was once more 
obliged to part from Grant. 

Alarming- News. 

Having gone some way, Speke was taking seriously ill, while, again, 
his guides refused to proceed. This occurred while he was in the dis- 
trict of a chief, named Lumeresi, who insisted on his coming to his vil- 
lage, feeling jealous that he had remained in that of another inferior 
chief. Lumeresi was not in when Speke arrived, but on his return, at 
night, he beat all his drums to celebrate the event, and fired a musket ; 
in reply to which Speke fired three shots. The chief, however, though 
he pretended to be very kind, soon began to beg for everything he saw. 
Speke, who felt that his best chance of recovering from his illness was 
change of air, ordered his men to prepare a hammock in which he might 
be conveyed. Although he had already given the chief a handsome 



TWO CELEBRATED EXPLORERS. 551 

tribute, consisting of a red blanket, and a number of pretty, common 
cloths for his children, no sooner did he begin to move than Lumeresi 
placed himself in his way and declared that he could not bear the idea of 
his white visitor going to die in the jungle. His true object, however, 
was to obtain a robe which Speke had determined not to give him. 
However, at length, rather than be detained, he presented the only one 
which he had preserved for the great chief, Rumanika, into whose terri- 
tories he was about to proceed. Scarcely had the chief received it, than 
he insisted on a further tribute, exactly double what had previously been 
given him. Again Speke yielded, and presented a number of brass-wire 
bracelets, sixteen cloths, and a hundred necklaces of coral beads, which 
were to pay for Grant as well as himself 

When about to march, however, Bui and Nasib were not to be found. 
On this, Speke determined to send back Bombay to Caze for fresh guides 
and interpreters, who were to join Grant on their return. 

In the meantime, while lying m a fearfully weak condition, reduced 
almost to a skeleton, he was startled, at midnight, out of his sleep by 
hearing the hurried tramp of several men. They proved to be Grant's 
porters, who, in short excited sentences, told him that they had left 
Grant standing under a tree with nothing but a gun in his hand; that 
his Wanguana porters had been either killed or driven away, having 
been attacked by Myonga's men, who had fallen upon the caravan, and' 
:shot, speared, and plundered the whole of it. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 

An African Village — Shelling Corn — Furniture in a Native's Hut — Peculiar Social' 
Customs — Evening Dance — A Favorite Game — VVeezee Boys and Their Bows and| 
Arrows— Singular Mode of Shooting— Affectionate Greetings— Fine Models of the 
Human Form— Treatment of Slaves— A Happy Release — Avaricious Arabs — 
Horrible Punishments Inflicted Upon Offenders— Attacked by Black Robbers- 
Little Rohan, the Sailor — Boy's Bravery — Shooting Thieves — Speke and Grant at 
Karague- Combats with Wild Animals— Beautiful Scenery— Interesting Family 
. of a King— Royal Fit of Merriment — Famous Fat Wives — Mode of Fattening. 
Women — Models of Beauty — Amusement in the Palace — A King's Levee — Meas- 
uring a very Fat Lady — Desperate Battle with a Hippopotamus — Mountain Ga-^ 
zelles — The Wonderful White Man — A King's Astonishment at Gunpowder — 
Women Beating the War Drum — Musical Instruments— Wild Musician — Gro- 
. tesque Band of Music— A Merry Christmas— Speke on His Way to Uganda—: 
Messengers from King Mtesa — A Remarkably Rich Country— Mountains of the 
Moon — Droll Customs of Savages — Frightening Away the Devil— Interview with 
King Mtesa — A Black Queen — The King Shoots an Adjutant bird— Wild and 
Fantastic Scene — A Famojs Colonel — Arrival of Grant — The Explorers Pusliing 
Forward — Speke Loses One of His Men — Arrival at the Banks of the Nile—- 
Singular Conveyances— Brutal Attack of Natives— Speke and Grant at the End- 
of Their Journey — The Explorers Arrive in England — Important Discoveries of 
Speke and Grant. 

E must now return to Captain Grant, who had been left in the 
Unyamuezi country, about which, during his stay, he made- 
numerous observations. 

" In a Weezee village," he tells us, " there are few sounds to 
disturb the traveller's night rest. The horn of the new-comers, and the 
reply to it from a neighboring village, an accidental alarm, the chirping: 
of crickets, and the cry from a sick child occasionally, however, broke 
the stillness. At dawn the first sounds were the crowing of cocks, 
the lowing of cows, the bleating of calves, and the chirruping of 
sparrows (which might have reminded him of America). Soon after 
would be heard the pestle and mortar shelling corn, or the cooing of wild 
pigeons in the neighboring palm-grove." The huts were shaped like 
hay-stacks, dark within as the hold of a ship. A few earthen jars, tat- 
tered skins, old bows and arrows, with some cups of grass, gourds, and 
perhaps a stool, constitute the furniture. 

Different tribes vary greatly in appearance. Grant describes some as 
(552) 




WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 



653: 



very handsome. He mentions two Nyambo girls, who, in the bloom of 
youth, sat together with their arms affectionately twined round each 
other's neck, and, when asked to separate that they might be sketched, 
their arms were dropped at once, showing their necks and busts to be of 
the finest form. Their woolly hair was combed out, and raised up from 
the forehead and over their ears by a broad band from the skin of a milk- 
white cow, which contrasted strangely with their transparent, light-copper 
skins. The Waha women are like them, having tall, erect, graceful 
figures and intelligent features. 




SOCIAL AMUSEMENT AMONG THE WEEZEES. 

An Arab trader, whom they had met, had sixty wives, who lived to- 
gether in a double-poled tent, with which he always travelled. One of 
them was a Watusi, a beautiful tall girl, with large, dark eyes, and the 
smallest mouth and nose, with thin lips and small hands. Her noble 
race will never become slaves, preferring death to slavery. 

Inside each Weezee village there is a club-house, or " iwansa," as it is 
called. This is a structure much larger than those which are used for 
dwelling-houses, and is built in a different manner. One of these 



5,54 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

iwansas, which was visited by Captain Grant, was a long, low room, 
twelve by eighteen feet, with one door, a low; flat roof, well blackened 
with smoke, and no chimney. Along its length there ran a high inclined 
bench, on which cow-skins were spread for men to take their seats. 
Huge drums were hung in one corner, and logs smouldered on the floor. 

Into this place strangers are ushered when they first enter the village, 
and here they reside until a house can be appropriated to them. Here 
the young men all gather at the close of day to hear the news, and join 
in that interminable talk which seems one of the chief joys of a native 
African. Here they perform kindly offices to each other, such as pulling 
out the hairs of the eyelashes and eyebrows with their curious little 
tweezers, chipping the teeth into the correct form and painting on the 
cheeks and temples the peculiar marks which designate their clan. 

Favorite Games. 

Smoking and drinking also go on largely in the iwansa, and here the 
youths indulge in various games. One of these games is exactly similar 
to the one which has been introduced into England. Each player has a 
stump of Indian corn, cut short, which he stands on the ground in front 
of him. A rude sort of teetotum is made of a gourd and a stick, and is 
spun among the corn-stumps, the object of the game being to knock 
down the stump belonging to the adversary. This is a favorite game, 
and elicits much noisy laughter and applause, not only from the actual 
players, but from the spectators who surround them. 

In front of the iwansa the dances are conducted. A long strip of bark 
or cow-skin is laid down, and the Weezees arrange themselves along it, 
the tallest man always taking the place of honor in the middle. When 
they have arranged themselves, the drummers strike up their noisy 
instruments, and the dancers begin a strange chant, which is more like 
a howl than a song. They swing their hands, stamp vigorously, and are 
pleased to think that they are dancing. The male spectators encourage 
their friends by joing in the chorus. 

The Weezee boys are amusing little fellows, and have quite a talent 
for games. Of course they imitate the pursuits of their fathers, such as 
shooting with small bows and arrows, jumping over sticks at various 
heights, pretending to shoot game, and other amusements. Some of the 
elder lads convert their play into reality, by making their bows and 
arrows large enough to kill the pigeons and other birds which fly about 
them. They also make very creditable imitations of the white man's 
gun, tying two pieces of cane together for the barrels, modelling the 
stock, hammer, and trigger-guard out of clay, and imitating the smoke by 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 



555 



tufts of cotton wool. That they are kind-hearted boys is evident from 
the fact that they have tame birds in cages, and spend much time in 
teaching them to sing. 

The Wanyamuezi treat the Watusi with great respect. When two 
people of these tribes meet, the former presses his hands together, the 
Watusi uttering a few words in a low voice. If a Watusi man meets a 




YOUNG WEEZEE SHOOTING PIGEONS. 

woman of his own tribe, she lets her arms fall by her side, while he gently 
presses them below the shoulders, looking affectionately in her face. 

The class of Arabs met with were a most degraded set : instead of 
improving the country, they brought ruin upon it by their imperiousness 
and cruelty. All traded in slaves and generally treated them most 
harshly* Several gangs were met with in chains. Each slave was dressed 



556 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

in a single goat's skin, and at night they kept themselves warm by lying; 
near a fire. Never, by day or night, is the chain unfastened ; should one 
of them require to move, the whole must accompany him.- All ate. 
together boiled sweet potato, or the leaves of the pumpkin plant, and 
were kept in poor condition to prevent their becoming troublesome. ', 

Any meat or bones left from the travellers' dinners were therefore' 
given them, and accepted thankfully. One gang was watched over by a 
small lad, whose ears had been cut off, and who treated them with unfeel- 
ing coarseness. A sick slave having recovered, it was the boy's duty to 
chain him to his gang again, and it was grievous to see the rough way he 
used the poor, emaciated creature. 

They had not much work to do, the sole object of the owner being to 
keep them alive and prevent their running away till sold at the coast. 
They generally looked sullen and full of despair; but occasionally, at 
night, they danced and became even riotous, till a word from the earless 
imp restored them to order. 

A Happy Release. 

Amou'j them was a poor fellow who had been five years in chains. 
The travellers took compassion on him, and released him from bondage. 
His chains were struck off with a hammer, and, once on his feet, a freed- 
man, he seemed scarcely to believe the fact, when, however, attired in a 
clean calico shirt, he strutted about and soon came to make his new 
master his best bow. On his body were numerous spear-wounds. He 
had been captured by the; Watuta, who had cut off several of his toes.. 
This man never deserted them during the journey, accompanying them 
to Cairo, having gained the character of a faithful servant. 

The Arab in Africa takes presents for everything he does, and it was 
believed that the white men would do the same. If a bullet was extracted, 
a gun repaired, an old sultan physicked, or the split lobe of an ear 
mended, a cow or cows were at hand to be paid when the task was 
finished. 

When slaves were brought for sale and declined by the Englishmen, 
the natives could not understand their indifference to such traffic, but 
would turn from them with a significant shrug, as much as to say : " Why 
are you here then ? " 

The most horrible punishments are inflicted on those who offend 
against the laws of the country. A woman and lad, who had been 
accused of bewitching the sultan's brother, were found with their arms 
tied behind them, writhing in torture on their faces. No sympathy was 
shown them from the jeering crowd. The lad at last cried out : '* Tak^ 




(557) 



d58 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

me to the forest, I know an hero remedy." He was allowed to go, while 
the woman was kept in the stocks near the sick patient. The lad was put 
to death, and Captain Grant suspected, tortured before a fire. Another 
man, for a crime in the sultan's harem, was stripped, tied to railings, and 
his person smeared with grease and covered with greased rags, which 
were then set fire to, when he was dragged forth to a huge fire outside 
the village. On his way, spears were darted at him by the son and 
daughter-in-law of the sultan, and when he fell he was dragged out by- 
one leg. 

Attacked by Black Robbers. 

Grant had the same difficulties in moving that Speke had experienced. 
At length he got away, but as he was passing through the territory of 
Sultan Myonga, his men moving in Indian file, a band of two hundred 
natives, armed with spears and bows and arrows, burst upon him, spring- 
ing over the ground like cats. The uplifted spears and the shouts of the 
robbers frightened the porters, who gave up their loads and attempted to 
escape from the ruffians, who were pulling their clothes and loads from 
them. Grant endeavored without bloodshed to prevent this, but, as he 
had only one of his gun-men and two natives by him, he could do noth- 
ing. Little Rohan the sailor, one of his Zambesi men, was found with 
his rifle in hand at full cock, defending two loads against five men. He 
had been urged to fly for his life. The property, he answered, was his 
life. Grant made his way, however, to Myonga, seeing as he went the 
natives dressed out in the stolen clothes of his men. Though honor was 
dear, the safety of the expedition was so likewise, and one false step 
would have endangered it. 

Myonga pretended to be very indignant, and said that he had cut off 
the hand of one of his men, and promised that the property should be 
restored. Some of the loads were given back, but others had been broken 
open and rifled, and the chief demanded an enormous tribute for permit- 
ting Grant to proceed. This was the origin of the alarming intelligence 
Captain Speke had received. 

At length the two travellers united their forces, and together they con- 
tinued their journey towards Karague. To reach it they had first to pass 
through the province of Usui, the chief of which, Suwarora, pillaged them 
as usual. Here the little grass-hut villages were not fenced by a stockade, 
but were hidden in large fields of plantains. Cattle were numerous, kept 
by the Wahuma, who would not sell their milk, because the Englishmen 
eat fowls. Their camp, night after night, was attacked by thieves. One 
night, as Speke was taking an observation, a party of these rascals 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 559 

enquired of two of the women of the camp what he was about. While 
the latter were explaining, the thieves whipped off their clothes and ran 
away with them, leaving the poor creatures in a state of absolute nudity. 

Shooting' Thieves. 

Speke had not taken much notice of the goats and other things which; 
had been stolen, but, in consequence of this, he ordered his men to shoot 
any thieves who came near. A short time afterwards, another band 
approaching, one of the men was shot, who turned out to be a magician, 
and was till then thought invulnerable. He was tracked by his blood, 
and afterwards died of his wound. The next day some of Speke's men 
were lured into the huts of the natives by an invitation to dinner, but, 
when they got them there, they stripped them stark naked and let them 
go again. At night the same rascals stoned the camp. After this 
another thief was shot dead and two others were wounded. Bombay and 
Baraka gave their masters also a good deal of trouble. The former, who 
was looked upon as an excellent fellow, more than once got very drunk, 
and stole their property in order to purchase a wife for himself, besides 
which the two men quarrelled desperately with each other. 

At length, however, the travellers got free of Usui and the native guard 
who had been sent to see them over the borders, and entered Karague, 
to their great relief and happiness. 

They had now, for some distance, wild animals alone to contend with, 
and these they well knew how to manage. There was often danger, as 
for instance, one day when they were hunting a lioness, she suddenly 
turned and with tremendous fury charged at her foes. •Nothing but a 
lucky shot saved them. 

Soon after pitching their tent they were greeted by an officer sent by 
the king, Rumanika, to escort them through his country. He informed 
them that the village officers were instructed to supply them with food at 
the king's expense, as there were no taxes gathered from strangers in the 
kingdom of Karague. 

Beautiful Scenery. 

The country was hilly, wild, and picturesque, the higher slopes dotted 
with thick bushes of acacias, the haunts of the white and black rhinoceros, 
while in the valley were large herds of harte-beestes. The further they 
proceeded into the country, the better they liked it, as the people were all 
kept in good order. A beautiful lake was seen, which at first they sup- 
posed to be a portion of the Nyanza, but it proved to be a separate lake, 
to which the name of Windermere was given. 

They now attained the delightful altitude of five thousand odd feet, the 




(5G0) 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 56;I-; 

atmosphere at night feeling very cool. Away to the west some Ispld, 
sky-scraping cones were observed, and, on making enquiries, Speke vyas, 
■convinced that those distant hills were the great turn-point of the Central 
African water-shed. Numerous travellers, whom he collected round 
liim, gave him assistance in forming his map. He was surprised at the 
amount of information about distant places which he was able to obtain 
fi-om these intelligent men. 

As they approached the palace, the king, Rumanika, sent them a sup- 
ply of excellent tobacco and beer manufactured by his people. On draw- 
ing near his abode, the bearers were ordered to put down their loads and 
fire a salute, and the two travellers at once received an invitation to visit 
the king. He was found sitting cross-legged with his brother, both men 
of noble appearance and size. The king was plainly dressed in an Arab 
black robe; he wore on his legs numerous rings of rich colored beads, 
and neatly-worked wristlets of copper. His brother, being a doctor of 
high credit, was covered with charms ; he wore a checked cloth wrapped 
round him. Large clay pipes were at their sides, ready for use. in 
their rear sat the king's sons, as quiet as mice. 

The king greeted them warmly and affectionately, and in an instant 
both travellers felt that they were in the company of men who were 
totally unlike the common order of the natives of the surrounding dis- 
tricts. They had fine oval faces, large eyes, and high noses, denoting 
the best blood of Abyssinia. They shook hands in the American style, 
the ever-smiling king wishing to know what they thought of his country. 
He observed that he considered his mountains the finest in the Avorld : 
"And the lake, too ; did not they admire it? " He seemed a very intelli- 
gent nsan, and enquired how they found their way over the world, which 
'led to a long story, describing the proportions of land and water, the way 
iships navigate the ocean, and convey even elephants and the rhinoceros 
■^to fill the menageries of Europe and America. 
' A Fit of Meriiuicnt. 

He gave them their choice of having quarters in his palace or pitching 
their tents outside. They selected a spot overlooking the lake, on 
account of the beautiful view. The young princes were ordered to attend 
on them, one of whom, seeing Speke seated in an iron chair, rushed back 
to his father with the intelligence. Speke was accordingly requested to 
return, that he might exhibit the white man sitting on his throne. 
Rumanika burst into a fresh fit of merriment at seeing him, and after- 
wards made many enlightened remarks. 

On another visit Speke told the king that if he would send two of his 

36 



562 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



children, he would have them instructed in England, for he admired his 
race, and believed them to have sprung from the friends of the English^ 
the Abyssinians, who were Christians, and had not the Wahuma lost their 
knowledge of God, they would be so likewise. A long theological and 
historical discussion ensued, which so pleased the king that he said he 
would be delighted if Speke would take two of his sons to England. He 
then enquired what could induce them to leave their country and travel, 
when Speke replied that they had had. their fill of the lujcuries of life, and 
that their great delight was to observe and admire the beauties of creation, 
but especially their wish was to pay visits to the kings of Africa, and in 
particular his Majesty. He then promised that they should have boats ta 
convey them over the lake, with musicians to play before them. 

In the afternoon Speke, having heard that it was the custom to fatten- 




A HAPPY NATIVE. 



up the wives of the king and princes to such an extent that they could 
not stand upright, paid a visit to the king's eldest brother. On entering 
the hut, he found the old chief and his wife sitting side by side on a bench- 
of earth strewed over with grass, while in front of them were placed 
numerous wooden pots of milk. Speke was received by the prince with 
great courtesy, and was especially struck by the extraordinary dimen- 
sions, yet pleasing beauty of the immoderately fat fair one, his wife. 

She could not rise. So large were her arms that between the joints 
the flesh hung like large loose bags. Then came in their children, all 
models of the Abyssinian type of beauty, and as polite in their manners 
as thorough-bred gentlemen. They were delighted in looking over his 
picture-books and making enquiries about them. The prince, pointing 
to his wife, observed : " This is all the product of those pots, as, from 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 563 

early youth upwards, we keep those pots to their mouths, being the cus- 
tom of the court to have very fat wives." 

The king, having supposed that the travellers had been robbed of all 
their goods, was delighted with the liberal presents he received, above all 
that of a coat of handsome scarlet broadcloth. He told them that they 
might visit every part of his country, and when the time arrived for pro- 
ceeding to Uganda, he would escort them to the boundary. 

Altogether, Rumanika was the most intelligent and best-looking ruler 
the travellers met with in Africa. He had nothing of the African in his 
appearance, except that his hair was short and wooly. He was fully six 
feet two inches in height, and the expression of his countenance was 
mild and open. He was fully clothed in a robe made of small antelope- 
skins and another of dark cloth, always carrying, when walking, a long 
staff in his hand. His four sons were favorable specimens of their race, 
especially the eldest, named Chunderah. He was somewhat of a dandy, 
being more neat about his lion-skin covers and ornaments than his 
brothers. From the tuft of wool left unshaven on the crown of his head 
to his waist he was bare, except when his arms and neck were decorated 
with charmed horns, strips of otter-skins, shells, and bands of wool. 
Amusement in tlie Palace. 

He was fond of introducing Friz, Speke's head-man, into the palace, 
that he might amuse his sisters with his guitar, and in return the sisters, 
brothers, and followers would sing Karague music. The youngest son 
was the greatest favorite, and on one occasion, the travellers having pre- 
sented him with a pair of white kid gloves, were much amused with the 
dignified way in which he walked off, having coaxed them on to his 
fingers. 

Rumanika, contrary to the usual African custom, was singularly abste- 
mious, living almost entirely on milk, merely sucking the juice of boiled 
beef. He scarcely ever touched plantain wine or beer, and had never 
been known to be intoxicated. The people were generally excessively 
fond of this wine, the peasants especially drinking large quantities of it. 

One of the most curious customs Avhich Rumanika holds in his char- 
acter of high priest, is his new-moon levee, which takes place every 
month, for the purpose of ascertaining the loyalty of his subjects. On 
the evening of the new moon the king adorns himself with a plume of 
feathers on his head, a huge white beard descending to his breast. He 
takes post behind a screen. Before him are arranged forty long drums 
on the ground, on the head of each of which is painted a white cross. 
The drummers stand each with a pair of sticks, and in front is their 



664 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

leader, who has a couple of small drums slung round his neck. The 
leader raises first his right arm and then his left, the performers imitating 
him, when he brings down both sticks on the drums with a rapid roll, 
they doing the same, until the noise is scarcely to be endured. This 
having continued for some hours, with the additon of smaller drums and 
other musical instruments, the chiefs advance in succession, leaping and 
gesticulating, and shouting expressions of devotion to their sovereign. 
Having finished their performance, they kneel before him, holding out 
their knobbed sticks that he may touch them, then, retiring, make room 
for others. 

Civilized as the country is in some respects, marriage is a matter of 
barter between the father and the intended husband, the former receiving 
cows, slaves, sheep, etc., for his daughter. Should, however, a bride not 
approve of her husband, by returning the marriage gifts she is again at 
liberty. The chief ceremony at marriages ccnsists in tying up the bride 
in a skin, blackened all over, and carrying her with a noisy procession ^o 

her husband. 

Measuring a Very Fat Liady. 

The ladies of this country lead an easy life in many respects, their chief 
object, apparently, being to get as fat as possible. Many of them succeed 
wonderfully well, in consequence of their peculiar constitution, or from 
the food they cat being especially nutritious. Five of Rumanika's wives 
were so enormous that they were unable to enter the door of any ordinary 
hut, or to move about without being supported by a person on either 
side. One of his sisters-in-law was of even still greater proportions. 
Speke measured her ; round her arm was one foot eleven inches ; chest, 
four feet four inches; thigh, two feet seven inches; calf, one foot eight 
inches ; height, five feet eight inches, 

■ He could have obtained her height more accurately could he have had 
her laid on the floor ; but, knowing the difficulties he would have had to 
contend with in such a piece of engineering, he tried to get her height by 
raising her up. This, after infinite exertion, was accomplished, when she 
sank down again, fainting, for the blood had rushed into her head. 
Meanwhile the daughter, a lass of sixteen, .sat before them, sucking at a 
milk-pot, on which the father kept her at work by holding a rod in his 
hand ; for, as fattening is one of the first duties of fashionable female life, 
it must be duly enforced with the rod if necessary. The features of the 
damsel were lovely, but her body was as round as a ball. 

The women turn their obesity to good account. In exchanging food 
for beads it is usual to purchase a certain quantity of food, which shall 




(5G5) 



566 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

be paid for by a belt of beads that will go round the waist. The women 
of Karague being on an average twice as large round the waist as those 
of other districts, food practically rises a hundred per cent, in price. Not- 
withstanding their fatness their features retain much beauty, the face 
being oval and the eyes fine and intelligent. The higher class of women 
are modest, not only wearing cow-skin petticoats, but a wrapper of black 
cloth, with which they envelop their whole bodies, merely allowing one 
hand to be seen. 

The travellers were allowed to move about the country as they liked, 
and the king sent his sons to attend on them, that they might enjoy 
such sport as was to be found. They heard of no elephants in that dis- 
trict, but harte-beestes, rhinoceros, and hippopotami were common. 
Desperate Battle Witli the River-horse. 

The exciting capture of the last-named beast furnishes material 
for many exciting tales of adventure. A traveller alludes to the 
custom the natives have of throwing sand into the animal's eyes. 
Blinded for the time, smarting, and assailed at his most sensitive point, 
the hippopotamus plunged back into the stream to lave his eyes, and the 
natives could not withstand his strength, even if the now doubled and 
firmly twisted together harpoon lines would have borne the strain, so 
they slacked away as he pulled, waiting until he was quiet to haul away 
again, and diag him to the bank. To this the out-manceuvred brute was 
foohshly nothing loath, and, having cleansed the sand from his eyes, 
rushed back to the fight, his black and savage heart eager for the destruc- 
tion of his tormentors. Again, however, was , he put to flight as before. 
Streaming with blood, spouting it in torrents from his mouth and through 
his nostrils, although he crunched the lance shafts like so many straws, 
yet the blades remained deep in his throat and vitals, whilst many a 
deadly thrust had been given behind his shoulder-blades. 

So the fight went on for nearly two hours, the huge animal's attacks 
being always frustrated by the sand-throwing, while every appearance he 
made above the water was the signal to receive numerous fresh wounds. 
At length, fairly exhausted, his fierce energy and mighty strength alike 
subdued, he was dragged and held as far out of the water as it was pos- 
sible to pull so great a weight ; what was gained was retained by taking 
a round-turn with the end of the rope about a neighboring piece of rock, 
and then the animal was secured. The natives value the hippopotamus 
for his hide, his flesh, and his ivory. 

One day Captain Grant saw two harte-beestes engaged in a desperate 
combat, halting calmly between each round to breathe. He could hear, 



\, ff-^ff> 




(567) 



568 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

even at a considerable distance, the force of every butt as their headar 
met, and, as they fell on their knees, the impetus of the attack, sending 
their bushy tails over their backs, till one, becoming the victor, chased 
the other out of the herd. 

Several varieties of antelope and the mountain gazelle were seen bound- 
ing over the hills. Pigs abounded in the low grounds, and hippopotami 
in the lake. 

Captain Spcke went out in search of rhinoceros, accompanied by the 
prince, with a party of beaters. In a short time he dicovered a fine male, 
when, stealing between the bushes, he gave him a shot which made him 
trot off, till, exhausted by loss of blood, he lay down to die. The young 
princes were delighted with the effect of the Englishman's gun, and, seiz- 
ing both his hands, congratulated him on his successes. 

A second rhinoceros was killed after receiving two shots. While pur- 
suing the latter, three appeared, who no sooner sighted Speke, than they 
all charged at him in line. His gun-bearers, however, were with him, 
and, taking his weapons, he shot the three animals in turn. One dropped 
down a little way on, but the others only pulled up when they arrived at 
the bottom of the hill. One kept charging with so much fury that""they 
could not venture to approach till Speke had given him a second ball, 
which brought him to the ground. Every man then rushed at the 
creature, sending his spear or arrow into his sides until he sank like a. 
porcupine covered with quills. 

Tlie Wonderful Wliite Man. 

The heads were sent to the king, to show what the white man could 
do. Rumanika exhibited the greatest astonishment, declaring that some- 
thing more potent than powder had been used; for, though the Arabs 
talk of their shooting powers, they could not have accomplished such a 
feat. " It is no wonder," he added, " that the English arc the greatest 
men in the world." 

Rumanika, like great men in other countries, had his private band. 
The instruments were of a somewhat primitive character, while the 
musicians differed in appearance considerably from those of America. 
The most common instruments are the drums, which vary greatly in 
size: one hung to the shoulder is about four feet in length, and one in 
width It is played with the fingers, like the Indian "tom-tom." The 
drums used at the new-moon reception are of the same shape, but very 
much larger. The war-drum is beaten by women. At its sound the 
men rush to arms, and repair to their several quarters. There are also 
several stringed instruments. One of these, which Captain Grant de- 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 



56» 



scribes, was played by an old woman ; it had seven notes, six of which 
were a perfect scale. Another, which had three strings, was played by a 
man : they were a full, harmonious chord. A third instrument called 
the " nanga," formed of dark wood, in the shape of a tray, had three 
crosses in the bottom, and was laced with one string, seven or eight times,. 
over bridges at either end. 

The prince sent the best player to be found to entertain his guest. 
The man entered, dressed in the usual Wanyambo costume, looking a 
wild, excited creature. After resting his spear against the roof of his. 




PECULIAR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 

hut, he took a " nanga " from under his arm and began playing, his wild 
yet gentle music Avith words, attracting a number of admirers. It was 
about a favorite dog, and for days afterwards the people sang that dog 
song. 

They have two wind instruments, one resembling a flageolet, and 
another a bugle. The latter is composed of several pieces of gourd, fitted 
one into another, in telescope fashion, and is covered with cow-skin. 

Rumanika's band was composed of sixteen men, fourteen of whom hacj 
bugles, and the other two hand-drums. On the march they form in 
three ranks, the drummers being in the rear, swaying their bodies in time 



^70 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

to the music, while the leader advances with a curiously active step, 
touching the ground alternately with each knee. They also, when the 
king rested on a march, or when out hunting, played before him, while 
he sat on the ground and smoked his pipe. 

The Wahuma, like most Africans, have great faith in the power of 
charms, and believe that by their means persons can be rendered invul- 
nerable. They also believe in the constant presence of departed souls, 
supposing that they exercise a good or evil influence over those whom 
they have known in life. When a field is blighted or a crop does not 
promise well, a gourd is placed in the pathway ; passsengers set up a 
wailing cry, which they intend as a prayer to the spirits to give a good 
crop to their mourning relatives. Rumanika, in order to propitiate the 
spirit of his father, was in the habit of sacrificing annually a cow on his 
tomb, and also of placing offerings on it of corn and wine. These and 
many other instances show that, though their minds are dark and mis- 
guided, the people possess religious sentiments which might afford 
encouragement to missionaries of the gospel. 

A Merry Cliristnias. 

The commencement of 1862 found the travellers still guests of the 
enlightened king. Hearing that it was the English custom on Christmas 
Day to have an especially good dinner, he sent an ox. Captain Speke 
in return paid him a visit. He offered him the compliments of the 
season, and reminded him that he was of the old stock of Abyssinians, 
who were among the oldest Christians on record, and that he hoped the 
time would come when wh'ite teachers would visit his country, to instruct 
him in the truths which he and his people had forgotten. 

Active preparations were now made for the departure of the travellers, 
but unhappily Captain Grant was suffering from so severe a complaint in 
one of his legs, that he was compelled to remain behind, under the pro- 
tection of the hospitable sovereign, while Speke set off for Uganda. 

About the middle of January a large escort of smartly-dressed men, 
women, and boys, leading their dogs and playing their reeds, under the 
command of Maula, arrived from Mtesa, King of Uganda, to conduct the 
travellers to his capital. Maula informed them that the king had ordered 
his officers to supply them with everything they wanted while passing 
through his country, and that there would be nothing to pay. 

Speke set forth, in the hopes that before long he should settle the great 
Nile problem for ever. It was, however, not believed that he would be 
able to proceed north from Uganda, Rumanika especially declaring that 
he would be compelled to return to the southward. 



WONDERFUl DISCOVERIES. 571 

Passing through a remarkably rich country, famous for its ivory and 
coffee productions, they descended from the Mountains of the Moon to an 
■alluvial plain, where Rumanika keeps thousands of cows. Once ele- 
phants abounded here, but, since the increase of the ivory trade, these 
animals had been driven off to the distant hills. 

They soon reached the Kitangule River, wiiich falls into the Victoria 
Nyanza. It was about eighty yards broad and so deep that it could not 
be poled by the canoe-men, while it runs at a velocity of from three to 
four knots an hour. It is fed from the high-seated springs in the Moun 
tains of the Moon, Speke believed that the Mountains of the Moon give 
birth to the Congo as well as the Nile, and also the Shire branch of the 
Zambesi. 

Frightening Away the Devil. 

The country through which they passed was a perfect garden of plan- 
tations, surprisingly rich, while along the banks of the river numberless 
harte-beestes and antelopes were seen. 

At a village, where they were compelled to stop two days, drumming, 
singing, screaming, yelling, and dancing went on the whole time, during 
the night as well as day, to drive the " phepo," or devil, away. In front 
of a hut sat an old man and woman, smeared with white mud, and hold- 
ing pots of beer in their laps, while people came, bringing baskets full of 
plantain squash and more pots of beer. Hundreds of them were collected 
in the court-yard, all perfectly drunk, making the most terrific uproar. 

The king sent messengers expressing his desire to see the white man. 
Speke now sent back to Grant, earnestly urging him to come on if he 
possibly could, as he had little doubt that they would be able to proceed 
-across the country to the northward. On approaching the capital, a mes- 
senger came to say that the king, who, by the way, is our old friend 
Mtesa, was so eager to meet the white man that he would not taste food 
until he had seen him. 

Speke won his favor by blistering and doctoring him. He managed 
"to keep up his own dignity by refusing to submit when improperly 
treated. Ke also gained great credit with the monarch by exhibiting his 
skill as a sportsman ; and Mtesa was delighted to find that after a little 
practice he himself could kill birds and animals. He did not, however, 
confine himself to shooting at the brute creation, but occasionally killed 
<a man or woman who might have been found guilty of some crime. 

A Black Queen. 

After he had been some time in the palace, he was introduced to the 
<jueen dowager. Her majesty was fat, fair, and forty-five. He found her 



572 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

seated in the front part of her hut, on a carpet, her elbow resting on a 
pillow. An iron rod, like a spit, with a cup on the top, charged with 
magic powder, and other magic Avands were placed before the entrance^ 
and within the room four sorceresses, or devil-drivers, fantastically 
dressed, with a mass of other women, formed the company. They being 
dismissed, a band of musicians came in, when beer was drunk by the 
queen, and handed to her visitor and high officers and attendants. She 
smoked her pipe, and bid Speke to smoke his. She required doctoring, 
and Speke had many opportunities of seeing her, so completely winnings 
her regard that she insisted on presenting him with various presents, 
among others a couple of wives, greatly to his annoyance. She appeared 
to be a jovial and intelligent personage. 

On his next visit the king told Speke that he had wished to see him on 
the previous day, and begged that whenever he came he would fire a gun 
at the waiting hut, that he might hear of his arrival. The king was much 
pleased with a portrait Speke made of him, as also with his colored 
sketches of several birds he had killed, but was still more delighted v/ith 
some European clothes, with which he was presented. 

When Speke went to visit him, he found his Majesty dressed in his 
new garments. The legs of the trousers, as well as the sleeves of the 
waistcoat, were much too short, so that his black feet and hands stuck 
out at the extremities as an organ-player's monkey's do, while the cocks- 
comb on his head prevented a fez cap, which he wore, from sitting 
properly. On this visit twenty new wives, daughters of chiefs, all 
smeared and shining with grease, were presented, marching in a line 
before the king, and looking their prettiest, whilst the happy fathers 
floundered on the ground, delighted to find their darling daughters 
appreciated by the monarch. Speke burst into a fit of laughter, which 
was imitated not only by the king but by the pages, his own men chuck- 
ling in sudden gusto, though afraid of looking up. 
The King- Makes a Capture. 

The king at last returned Speke's visit. Having taken off his turban,, 
as Speke was accustomed to take off his hat, he seated himself on his 
stool. Everything that struck his eye was admired and begged for, 
though nothing seemed to please him so much as the traveller's wide- 
awake and mosquito curtains. The women, who were allowed to peep 
into Bana's (the white man's) den, received a couple of sacks of beads, to 
commemorate the visit. 

A few days afterwards he was accompanying the king when an. 
adjutant-bird was seen in a tree. The king had a gun Speke had givei) 




CURIOUS ADJUTANT-BIRD. 



<573) 



574 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

him, but he had little more than one charge of powder remaining^ 
Speke had left his gun at home. The king at the second shot killed 
the bird, greatly to his delight. He insisted upon carrying the bird to- 
show to his mother. 

Before entering the palace, however, he changed his European clothes 
for a white goat-skin wrapper. Directly afterwards a battalion of his 
army arrived before the palace, under the command of his chief officer, 
whom Speke called Colonel Congou. The king came out with spear and 
shield in hand, preceded by the bird, and took post in front of the 
enclosure. His troops were divided into three companies, each contain- 
ing about two hundred men. After passing in single file, they went 
through various evolutions. Nothing, Speke says, could be more wild 
or fantastic than the sight which ensued. Each man carried two spears 
and one shield, held as if approaching an enemy. They thus moved in 
three lines of single rank and file at fifteen or twenty paces asunder, with 
the same high action and elongated step, the ground leg only being 
bent to give their strides the greater force. The captains of each com- 
pany followed, even more fantastically dressed. 

Astounding Dress. 

The great Colonel Congou had his long, white-haired goat-skins, a 
fiddle-shaped leather shield, tufted with white hair at all six extremities, 
bands of long hair tied below the knees, and the helmet covered with 
rich beads of several colors, surmounted with a plume of crimson 
feathers, from the centre of which rose a stem, tufted with goat- hair. 
Finally the senior officers" came charging at their king, making violent 
protestations of faith and honesty, for which they were applauded. 

Speke was now, towards the end of May, looking forward to the 
arrival of Grant. To propitiate the despot he sent a compass, greatly to 
the delight of Mtesa, who no sooner saw it than he jumped and yelled 
with intense excitement, and said it was the greatest present Bana had 
ever given him, for by this he found out all the roads and countries. 

It had been arranged that Grant should come by water ; but the 
natives, fearing to trust themselves on the lake, brought him all the dis- 
tance on a litter. At length, the sound of guns announced the arrival of 
Grant, and Speke hurried off to meet his friend, who was now able to 
limp about a little, and to laugh over the accounts he gave of his 
travels. 

The travellers forthwith began to make arrangements for proceedings 
on to Unyoro, governed by Kamrasi, of despicable character and con- 
sidered merpiless and cruel, even among African potentates, scattering 




(575) 



576 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

death and torture around at the mere whim of the moment; while he 
was inhospitable, covetous, and grasping, yet too cowardly to declare 
war against the King of the Waganda, who . had deprived him of por- 
tions of his dominions. The Waganda people were, therefore, very 
unwilling to escort the travellers into his territory ; and Colonel Congou 
declared that if compelled to go, he was a dead man, as he had once led 
an army into Unyoro. 

The travellers' great object was to reach the spot where the Nile was 
supposed to flow out of the Victoria Nyanza, and proceed down the 
stream in boats. 

By July the arrangements for their journey were made. The king 
presented them with a herd of cows for their provisions, as well as some 
robes of honor and spears, and he himself came out with his wives to 
see them off. Speke ordered his men to turn out under arms and 
acknowledge the favors received. Mtesa complimented them on their 
goodly appearance and exhorted them to follow their leader through fire 
and water, saying that, with such a force, they would have no difficulty 
in reaching Gani. 

Pushing Forward. 

It was arranged that Grant should go on to Kamrasi direct, Avith the 
-property, cattle, etc., while Speke should go by the river to examine its 
exit from the lake, and come down again, navigating as far as practicable. 

They now commenced their march down the northern slopes of 
Africa, escorted by a band of Waganda troops, under the command of 
Kasora, a young chief They had proceeded onwards some days, when 
Kari, one of Speke's men, had been induced to accompany some of the 
Waganda escort to a certain village of potters, to obtain pots for making, 
plantain wine. On nearing the place, the inhabitants rushed out. The 
Waganda men escaped, but Kari, whose gun was unloaded, stood still, 
pointing his weapon, when the people, believing it to be a magic horn, 
speared him to death, and then fled. 

After passing through a country covered with jungle, Speke reached 
the banks of the Nile. The shores en either side had the appearance of 
a highly-kept park. Before him was a magnificent stream, six or seven 
hundred yards wide, dotted with islets and rocks — the former occupied 
by fishermen's huts, the latter by sterns and crocodiles, basking in the 
sun — flowing between fine, high, grassy banks, covered with trees and 
plantations. In the background herds of harte-beestes could be seen 
grazing, while the hippopotami were snorting in the water, Florican and 
Guinea fowl rising at their feet. 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 577 

The chief of the district received them courteously, and accompanied 
Speke to the Isamba Rapids. 

The water ran deep between its banks, which were covered with fine 
grass, soft cloudy acacias, and festoons of lilac, while here and there, 
where the land had slipped above the rapids, bare places of red earth 
could be seen. There, too, the waters, impeded by a natural dam, looked . 
like a huge mill-pond, sullen and dark, in which two crocodiles, floating 
about, were looking out for prey. From the high banks Speke looked 
down upon a line of sloping wooded islets lying across the stream, which, 
by dividing its waters, became at once both dam and rapids. " The 
whole scene was fairy-like, wild and romantic in the extreme," says Cap- 
tain Speke. 

Proceeding southward they reached the Rippon Falls, by far the most 
interesting sight he had seen in Africa. 

" Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I expected, for 
the broad surface of the lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill, 
and the falls, about twelve feet deep and four to five hundred feet broad, 
were broken by rocks ; still it was a sight that attracted one to it for 
hours. The roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger fish leaping 
at the falls with all their might, the fishermen coming out in boats, and 
taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami and 'croco- 
diles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work above the falls, and 
cattle driven down to drink at the margin of the lake, made in all, with 
the pretty nature of the country — small grassy-topped hills, with trees in 
the intervening valleys and on the louver slopes — as interesting a picture 
as one could wish to see." 

Here, then, he had arrived at what he considered the source of the 
Nile — that is, the point from where it makes its exit from the Victoria Ny- 
anza ; and he calculated that the whole length of the river is, thus meas- 
uring from the south end of the lake, two thousand three hundred miles. 
Sing^ular Conveyances. 

He and his party now returned northward, and reached Urondogani 
again in August. The difficulty was next to obtain boats. The fisher- 
men, finding that the strangers were to be supplied with fish by the 
king's order, ran away, though the cows they had brought furnished the 
travellers with food. At length five boats, composed of five planks laslied 
together and caulked with rags, were forthcoming. Speke, with his 
attendants, Kasora, and his followers embarked, carrying goats, dogs, 
and kit, besides grain and dried meat. No one, however, knew how 
many days it would take to perform the voyage. 

37 




(578) 



WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES. 579 

Tall rushes grew on either side of the broad river, which had in places 
a lake-like appearance. The idle crew paddled slowly, amusing them- 
selves by sometimes dashing forward, and then resting, while Kasora had 
the folly to attack the boats of Wanyoro he met coming up the river. 

The frontier line was. crossed on the 14th, but they had not proceeded 
far when they saw an enormous canoe of Kamrasi's, full of well-armed 
men, approaching them. The canoe turned, as if the people were afraid, 
and the Waganda followed. At length, however, the chased canoe 
turnjd, and the shore was soon lined with armed men, threatening them 
with destruction. Another canoe now appeared' It was getting dark. 
The only hope of escape seemed by retreating. Speke ordered his fleet 
to keep together, promising ammunition to his men if they would fight. 
The people in one boat, however, were so frightened that they allowed 
her to spin round and round in the current. 

Brutal Attack by Natives. 

The Wanyoro were stealing on them, as they could hear, though 
nothing could be seen. One of the boats kept in shore, close to the 
reeds, when suddenly she was caught by grappling-hooks. The men 
cried out " Help, Bana ! they are killing us." Speke roared in reply : 
" Go in, and the victory will be ours." When, however, three shots were 
fired from the hooked boat, the Wanyoro fled, leaving one of their 
number killed and one wounded, and Speke and his party were allowed 
to retreat unmolested. 

Speke, after proceeding up the river some distance, determined to 
continue the journey by land, following the track Grant had taken. 
Grant's camp was reached, and the next day a messenger arrived from 
Kamrasi, saying that the king would be glad to see them, and the march 
was ordered to Unyoro. 

The frontier was again passed, when the country changed much for 
the worse. Scanty villages, low huts, dirty-looking people clad in skins, 
the plantain, sweet potato and millet forming the chief edibles, besides 
goats and fowls. No hills, except a few scattered cones, broke the level 
surface of the land, and no pretty views cheered the eye. They were 
now getting to a distance from the rain-attractive influences of the Moun- 
tains of the Moon, and vegetation decreased proportionately. Their first 
halt was on the estate of the chief Kidjwiga. Scarcely had they been 
established than a messenger page from Mtesa, with a party of fifty 
Waganda, arrived to enquire how Bana was, and to remind him of the 
gun and other articles he had promised to send up from Gani. 

The natives ran off as they passed through the country, believing them 



580 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

to be cannibals. They supposed that the iron boxes which the porters 
carried on their shoulders each contained a couple of white dwarfs, which 
were allowed to fly off to eat people. They, however, gained confidence, 
and soon flocked around the Englishmen's huts. 

On arriving at the end of their day's march, on the 2d of September, 
they were told that elephants had been seen close by. Grant and Speke, 
therefore, sallied forth with their guns, and found a herd of about a hun- 
dred, feeding on a plain of )ong grass. Speke, by stealing along under 
cover of the high grass, got close to a herd, and fired at the largest. The 
animals began sniffing the air with uplifted trunks, when, ascertaining by 
the smell of powder that the enemy was in front of them, they rolled up 
their trunks, and came close to the spot where he way lying under a 
mound. Suddenly they stopped, catching scent of the white man, and 
lifting their heads high, looked down upon him. Speke was now in a 
dangerous position, for, unable to get a proper front shot at any of them, 
he expected to be picked up or trodden to death. As he let fly at their 
temples, they turned round and went rushing away at a much faster pace 
than they came. 

The explorers at length reached Khartoum, having sailed down the 
Nile, and were soon at Berber. 

The two travellers, whose adventures we have thus far followed, em- 
barked for England, on the 4th of June, on board the " Pera," where 
they safely arrived, after an absence of eleven hundred and forty-six 
days. 

His friends had shortly afterwards to mourn Captain Speke's untimely 
death, from his gun accidentally going off while at shooting. 

Speke was the first European who saw the Victoria Nyanza, while the 
adventurous and hazardous journey he and Grant performed together 
deservedly places them in the first rank of African travellers. They also 
opened up an extensive and rich district hitherto totally unknown, into 
which the blessings of Christianity and commerce will soon be intro- 
duced. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 

Remarkable Scenery in Central Africa — Masses of Rocky Mountains —Foliage Bright 
with all the Colors of the Rainbow — Rank Growths of Rushes and Grass — Varieties 
of Animal Life — The Guinea fowl — The Sacred Ibis — The Long-legged Stork 
and Heron — The Wonderful Shoebill— Primeval Forests and Running Streams — 
Fine Specimens of Flowers — Perpetual Moisture — The Negro's Taste for 
Honey —The Fish-eagle — Majestic Flight — An Old Bird— The Eagle Contending 
for its Mate — Remarkable Claws — Turtle Doves and Golden Pheasants—Crows 
and Hawks — Fairy Antelopes — Grave-looking Monkeys — Beautiful Valleys and 
Hillsides — The Beautiful in Nature Marred by Human Cruelty — Cities Built by 
Insects— Waves of Rolling Land — Villages of African Tribes — Stanley's Descrip- 
tion of Tanganyika — Remarkable Lake — Lovely Landscape — A Native Bird — 
Famous Ibis — A Feathered Idol — Stanley's Glowing Description of Tropical 
Scenery — Desert of Sahara — Terrific Sand Storms — Whirlwinds of Dust— Fire 
in the Air — Extraordinary Storm Pillars — Remarkable Reptile Tribes — The 
Curious Gekko — Brilliant Insects— The Traveller's Pests — Remarkable Trees 
and Plants— The Wild Ox -The Wild Pig— Ten Kinds of Antelopes— Elegant 
Animals— Swift Punishment — Famous Gorilla — Inveterate Thieves — Quick Re- 
treat — The Orang-outang — Arms Longer Than Legs — Formidable Foe — Pursuit 
of the Orang-outang — Swinging Easily from Tree to Tree — Expert Climber — 
Hiding Among the Leaves — The Young Orang — A Motherly Goat— Clever 
Monkey — Saucy Pet — A Little Thief— An Animal Very Human. 

TANLEY gives the following description of the scenery of Central 
Africa : Unyamwezi is a wide undulating table-land, sinking west- 
ward toward Tanganyika. Any one taking a bird's-eye view of 
the land would perceive forests, a purple-hued carpet of foliage, 
broken here and there by barren plains and open glades, extending 
toward every quarter of the heavens. Here and there rise masses of 
rocky mountains, towering like blunt cupolas above the gentle undula- 
tions of the land, on to the distant horizon. Standing upon any pro- 
jecting point, a scene never before witnessed meets the view. Nothing 
picturesque can be seen ; the landscape may be called prosaic and 
monotonous ; but it is in this very overwhelming, apparently endless, 
monotony that its sublimity lies. 

The foliage is bright with all the colors of the prism ; but as the 
woods retreat towards the far distance, a silent mystical vapor enfolds 
them, and bathes them first in pale, and then in dark blue, until they are 
lost in the distance. But near the lake all is busy life. The shore 

(581) 



582 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

immediately adjoining the Lake of Ugogo is formed by a morass of at 
least sixty feet wide, and extending on every side. It is an impenetrable 
tangle of luxuriant sedge and rushes, where the unwieldy hippopotamus, 
going his nightly rounds, has left his watery footsteps imprinted in the 
swamp. Numerous buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, boars, kudu antelopes, 
and other animals come here at nightfall to quench their thirst. 

The shores and surface of the lake are alive with an amazing number 
of aquatic birds — black swans, ducks, sacred ibises, cranes, and pelicans ; 
high overhead, watchful for their prey, hover kites and fish eagles ; while 
the shore is vocal with the loud call of the guinea-fowl, the hoarse scream 
of the toucan, the cooing of the pigeons, the hoot of the owl mingling 
with the cry of the snipe and wild fowl rising from the long grass by the 
water's edge. These shores are also the paradise of the long-legged 
stork and the heron, the saddle stork, the marabout, an ugly bird, in 
spite of its wonderful and costly feathers, the giant heron, while the 
curious stilt-bird, or shoebill, of Africa, one of the most singular birds 
of the globe, inhabits the more northern marshlands, vast impenetrable 
morasses of the White Nile, and some of its tributaries. This bird has a 
bulky body, a thick neck, a large head and a curiously formed bill, not 
unlike a clumsy wooden shoe. Its color is an ashy gray, with jet black 
wing feathers. 

The shoebill is the giant of the wading birds and is found in pairs or 
smaller societies as remote as possible from human habitations, mostly in 
the impenetrable swamps f)f the White Nile and some of its tributaries. 
At the approach of man it flies away, and when frightened by shots it 
rises to a great altitude and never returns to its swamps as long as there 
is any suspicion of danger. This bird selects for its breeding place a 
small elevation in the reeds, either immediately on the border of the 
water or in the swamp, mostly where surrounding water renders an 
approach difficult. 

Wonderful Luxuriance. 

The flora concentrates all its luxuriance in the first months of the rainy 
season, leaving the autumn, when the grass of the steppes is withered, to 
fare less richly. The scenery varies much less than in the most mo- 
notonous districts of our own country, but it has nevertheless its alter- 
nation of clustering groves of bushes, its clearings with noble trees more 
than thirty or forty feet in height, its luxuriant undergrowth broken by 
grassy reaches or copses of tall shrubs. 

Palms play a subordinate part in this scenery ; the fan palms are found 
clustered together in groves ; and in the marshy steppes grows the 




STRANGE AFRICAN SHOEBILL. 






(588) 



584 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

prickly date, perhaps the primitive type of the date palm. Then come 
the leather-leaved fig trees of every kind, and among them the grandest 
monuments of African vegetation, the sycamores, together with large- 
leaved tamarinds. 

Very characteristic of the country are the patches of primeval forests, 
watered by running streams, and known by the name of galleries. The 
soil is unusually rich in springs of water, which keep up a perpetual 
overflow of the brooks ; and while in the northern districts the rivers 
have to find their way across open lowlands where the volume of water 
soon diminishes, and is lost in the parched earth, the country here is like 
a well-filled sponge. The result of this abundant moisture is that the 
valleys and fissures of the earth through which the water flows, whether 
in the form of little brooks and streamlets, or of great rivers, are clothed 
with all the majesty of a tropical forest; while an open park-like glade, 
the chief feature of which appears at the first glance to be the amazing 
size of its foliage, fills up the higher-lying spaces between the water- 
courses and the galleries. The number of distinct types of trees, and 
the variety of forms among th^ undergrowth, is very great. Trees with 
large trunks, whose height throws into the shade all the previously seen 
specimens of the Nile flora, not excluding the palms of Egypt, are here 
found in serried ranks, without a break, and beneath their shelter the 
less imposing platforms are arranged in terraces. 

Magniflcent Forests. 

In the interior of thesp virgin forests, leafy corridors, rivalling the 
temple walls of Egypt, lie veiled in deep perpetual shadow, and are 
spanned by a triple roof of foliage, rising vault above vault. Seen from 
without, the galleries appear like an impenetrable wall of the densest 
leafage, while from within corridors of foliage open out in every direction 
beneath the columns of the tree stems, and are filled with the murmuring 
voice of springs and water-courses. 

The average height of the roof of leaves measures from seventy-five to 
ninety feet; but very often these galleries, seen from without, by no 
means produce the imposing effect which is felt from within in looking up 
from the depth of the valley or the: water-side; because in many places 
the depression of land or water which makes up the gallery or tunnel-like 
i character of the scene scarcely allows half of the forest to rise above the 
level ground, many galleries being entirely sunk in the depression. 
Great tree trunks, thickly overgrown with wild pepper, rise from the 
depths, and support wide-spreading branches draped with lichens and 
mosses, above which towers the remarkably fine tree called the elephant's 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 585 

ear, which grows in rich abundance. High up on the branches are seen 
the very large nests built by the " tree-termite." 

Other tree stems, long since dead, serve as supports for colossal vines, 
and with their impenetrable festoons form bowers as large as houses, in 
which perpetual darkness reigns. From the depths of the brushwood 
gleam flame-red blossoms, and rivalling them in splendor are seen tall 
shrubs bearing large orange bell flowers. The eyes may roam in every 
direction, and meet with nothing but this unbroken impenetrable greenery. 
There where the narrow pathways wind along, partly through and partly 
under the tangle of shrub and bush ascending the valley wall, bare roots 
of trees form the supports which hold the loose friable earth together. 
Mouldering trunks, covered with thick mosses, are met with at every 
step, and make our advance through these waves of massive greenery 
anything but easy. The air we breathe is no longer that of the free sun- 
lit steppe, or of the cool leafy paths without; it is the heavy, humid 
atmosphere of our green- houses. There prevails a constant moisture, 
produced by the breath of the woods itself, and which it is impossible to 
escape. 

A Taste for Honey. 

The Negroes belonging to the caravan, while prowling through the 
backwoods in search of anything eatable, lighted here upon an important 
discovery; their cry of triumph guided us to the place where they stood 
clustered together round a tree, very busy with their firebrands. They 
bad discovered in the hollow stem a large quantity of honey, and were 
preparing to secure their treasure with great indifference to the results of 
their attack. Honey, wax, and even the little bodies of the honey- 
makers slain in the combat, were swallowed down by the Negroes with- 
out any distinction. 

One of the birds peculiar to some parts of Central Africa, and men- 
tioned by Stanley, is the fish-eagle. The best known and largest is the 
white-headed eagle. The length is about three feet, and the extent of 
wings seven feet ; the female is somewhat larger. Its usual food is fish, 
but it eats the flesh of other animals, when it can get it and often seizes 
quadrupeds and birds of inferior flight, and when pressed by hunger will 
feed on carrion. The fl ght of this bird is very majestic ; it sails along 
with extended wings and can ascend until it disappears from view, with- 
out any apparent motion of the wings or tail ; and from the greatest 
height it descends with a rapidity, which can scarcely be followed by the 
eye. The power of wing is not more remarkable than the consummate 
skill with which the strong pinions are made to cut the air. 




FiSH-EAGLES CONTENDING FOR A PRIZE. 



(586) 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 587 

These birds live to a great age. They are generally seen in pairs and 
the union seems to last for life. The attachment of the old birds to th-ir 
young is very great. The breeding season commences about March and 
though each male has but one mate during its entire life, many and fierce 
are the battles, which arise about the possession of these spouses. It is 
a singular circumstance in the formation of this bird that the outer toe ^ 
turns easily backward, so as on occasion to have two of the toes forward 
and two backward, and it has a much larger claw than the inner one. 
This, and the roughness of the whole foot underneath, are well adapted 
for the securing of its prey. During the spring and summer months the 
osprey is frequently seen hovering over the rivers for minutes without 
visible change of place. It then suddenly darts down and plunges into 
the water, whence it seldom rises again without a fish in its talons. When 
it rises in the air it shakes off the water and pursues its way towards the 
woods. 

In one part of his first expedition, Stanley refers to the attractive views 
which greeted him on every side. 

Forest-clad Slopes and Beautiful Valleys. 

Our traveller was now fairly in the midst of African scenes. The 
wilderness wa^; broken only by the little villages which everv now and 
then appeared peeping through the crevices of their wonderful fortresses 
of acacia, and the people were fully up to the average in genuine African 
characteristics. 

• Crossing the Ungerengeri, a beautiful river with a broad fertile valley, 
and passing through the narrow belt of country which is all that is left 
to the warlike remnants of the once powerful Wakami tribe, the 
intrepid traveller entered the territory of the Wadoe, a people full 
of traditions, who have always defended themselves bravely against 
the encroachments of neighbors and the invasions of marauders. The 
region they inhabit might well have been guarded hy them with jealous 
courage. 

Speaking of it, Mr. Stanley says: It is in appearance amongst the most 
picturesque countries between the coast and Unyanyembe. Great cones 
shoot upward above the everlasting forests, tipped by the light fleecy 
clouds, through which the warm glowing sun darts its rays, bathing the 
whole in a quickening radiance which brings out those globes of foliage 
that rise in tier after tier along the hill-sides in rich and varied hues 
which would mock the most ambitious painter's skill. From the wind- 
ing paths along the crest of ridges the traveller may look down over 
forest-clad slopes into the deep valleys, and across to other slopes as 




LIFE AND METAMORPHOSIS OF THE DRAGON-FLY. a. — THE PERFECT 

INSECT. b. THE INSECT CASTING OFF ITS WOKN-OUT 

nymph's skin. C d. — LARV^ AND NYMPHS. 
(588) 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 589 

gayly clad, and other ridges where deep concentric folds tempt him to 

curious wanderings by their beauty and mystery and grandeur. But 

those lovely glades and queenly hills told saddest stories of cruel deeds 

and wrongs irreparable. It is the old story: envious evil eagerly 

invades with its polluting presence those sacred spots where all is 

loveliest ; infernal malice mars with strange delight what is beautiful and 

pure. 

Cities Built by Insects. 

Further on the caravan passed through the thin forests adorned with 
myriads of marvellous ant-hills, those wonderful specimens of engineer- 
ing talent and architectural capacity, those cunningly contrived, model 
cities, with which the tiny denizens of African wilds astonish the traveller 
continually; and on across plains dotted with artificial-looking cones and 
flat-topped, isolated mountains, and through marshy ravines, where every 
unlucky step insured a bath in Stygian ooze — the various scenes of south- 
ern Ukonongo — 

" Where the thorny brake and thicket 
Densely fill the interspace 
Of the trees, through whose thick branches 
Never sunshine lights the place" — 

ihe abode of lions and leopards and elephants and wild boars, one of 
those splendid parks of the wilderness where majestic forests and 
jungles, and lawn-like glades, and reedy brakes and perilous chasms 
all unite to form that climax of wildness and beauty, " the hunter's 
paradise." It was just the place to arouse all the Nimrod spirit a man 
possesses, and the two days of rest were turned to good account by 
Mr. Stanley in testing the virtue of his fine rifles on the masters of the 
domain. 

The surface stratum of the country is clay, overlying the sandstone, 
based upon various granites, which in some places crop out, picturesquely 
disposed in blocks and boulders and huge domes and lumpy masses ; 
ironstone is met with at a depth varying from five to tvvelve feet, and 
bits of coarse ore have been found in Unyanyembe by digging not more 
than four feet in a chance spot. 

"Waves of RoJling- Land.'* 

Duririg the rains the grass conceals the soil, but in the dry seasons the 
land is gray, lighted up by golden stubbles, and dotted with wind -dis- 
torted trees, shallow swamps of emerald grass, and wide streets of dark 
mud. Dwarfed stumps and charred "blackjacks" deform the fields, 
which are sometimes ditched or hedged in, whilst a thin forest of para- 
chute-.shaped thorns diversifies the waves of rolling land and earth hills. 



590 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

spotted with sunburnt stone. The reclaimed tracts and clearings are 
divided from one another by strips of primeval jungle, varying from two 
to. twelve miles in length, and, as in other parts of Africa, the country is 
dotted with " fairy mounts " — dwarf mounds — the ancient sites of trees 
now crumbled to dust, and the debris of insect architecture. Villages, the 
glory of all African tribes, are seen at short intervals rising only a little 
above their impervious walls of lustrous green milk-bush, with its coral- 
shaped arms, variegating the well-hoed plains ; whilst in the pasture 
lands herds of many-colored cattle, plump, round-barrelled and high- 
humped, like Indian breeds, and mingled flocks of goats and sheep, 
dispersed over the landscape, suggest ideas of barbarous comfort and 
plenty. 

It is astonishing what luxury is conveyed into the heart of Africa by 
Arab merchant-princes. The fertile plain about their villages, kept in 
the highest state of cultivation, yields marvellous abundance and endless 
variety of vegetables, and supports vast herds of cattle, and sheep and 
goats innumerable; while just above the houses the orange, lemon, 
papaws and mangoes may be seen thriving finely. 

Add to these the tea, coffee, sugar, spices, jellies, curries, wine, brandy, 
biscuits, sardines, salmon, and such fine cloths as they need for their 
own use, brought from the coast every year by their slaves ; associate 
these with a wealth of Persian carpets, most luxurious bedding, complete 
services of silver for tea and coffee, with magnificently carved dishes of 
tinned copper and brass lavers; and we have a catalogue out of which 
our imagination produces pictures of luxury that, amid the wildness and 
rudeness of that barbarous land, seem more like the magician's work 
than tangible realities, which await the worn-out traveller across six hun- 
dred miles of plains and mountains and rivers and swamps, where a suc- 
cession of naked, staring, menacing savages throng the path in wonder 
at a white face. 

A further description of some of the tropical birds mentioned by 
Stanley will prove of interest to the reader who wishes to obtain a cor- 
rect idea of the wonders abounding in Africa. 

A Native Bird. 

Guinea-hens are peculiar to Africa, where they frequent woods on the 
banks of rivers, in large flocks. They feed on grains, grasshoppers and 
other insects. When alarmed they attempt to escape by running, rather 
than by flight. The common guinea-hen is slate colored, covered all 
over with round white spots and is about the size of the common fowl. 
They are very noisy and troublesome, always quarreling with the other 




(591) 



592 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

inmates of the poultry yard, and they are hard to raise from the delicacy 
of the young and their liability to disease. 

Their flesh is of fine flavor and their eggs are excellent. They are 
great feeders, requiring to be fed beyond what they can pick up by them- 
selves, and are apt to injure tender buds and flowers. The crested guinea- 
fowl or pintado has a crest of black feathers and the body black with blue 
spots ; the mitred pintado has the head surmounted by a conical helmet 
and is black, white spotted. 

The four species of pintado hitherto knoM^n are all natives of Africa and 
of islands adjacent to the African coast. Their mode of feeding is similar 
to that of the domestic poultry. They scrape the ground with their feet 
in search of insects, worms or seeds. The females lay and hatch their 
eggs nearly in the same manner as the common hens. The eggs, how- 
ever, are smaller and have a harder shell. Buffon states that there is a 
remarkable difference between the eggs of the domestic guinea-fowls and 
those which are wild ; the latter being marked with small round spots, 
like those on the plumage of the birds, and the former being, when first 
laid, of a quite bright red and afterwards of the faint color of the dried 
rose. 

The young birds, for sometime after they come into the world, are des- 
titute of the helmet or callous protuberance, which is so conspicuous on 
the heads of the old ones. The guinea-fowl is a restless and clamorous 
bird. During the night it perches on high places and if disturbed, 
alarms every animal within hearing by its cry. These birds delight in 
rolling themselves in the dbst for the purpose of ridding themselves of 
insects. • 

The Famous Ibis. 

This is another African bird. There are about half a dozen species of 
this wading bird, including three in the United States. The red or 
scarlet ibis is about twenty-eight inches long, its bill six and one-half 
inches, and the extent of its wings a little over three feet. This bird, 
whose color is a uniform bright scarlet, is found in South America and 
the West Indies, The white ibis, or white curlew, whose plumage is 
pure white, is very common in the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States, 
occasionally straggling as far north as New Jersey. Its flesh has a very 
fishy taste and is rarely eaten except by the Indians. 

The glossy ibis, a smaller species, is about twenty-one inches long. 
Its general color is chestnut-brown, with the back and top of h^ad 
metallic green, glossed with purple. It exists in great numbers in 
Mexieo and has been found as far north as Massachusetts. Of this genus 




BEAUTIFUL PHEASANT. 

38 



(593) 



594 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

there are about twenty species found in the warmer parts of Africa, Asia 
and South America, one of which is the Sacred Ibis of the Egyptians. 
It is about as large as a domestic fowl, and is found throughout Northern 
Africa. 

This bird, which was reared In the temples of ancient Egypt and was 
embalmed, frequents overflowed lands and dry plains and feeds on frogs 
and small aquatic lizards. It is a migratory bird, appearing simulta- 
neously with the rise of the Nile and departing as the inundation 
subsides. It is a remarkable fact, that the ibis does not visit Egypt 
regularly any more as of old, breeding in the Soudan. As soon as it- 
arrives there it takes possession of its well-selected breeding places, from 
which it undertakes excursions in search of prey. It is not afraid of the 
natives and can often be seen among the cattle herds picking up a grass- 
hopper here and a frog or lizard there. Dr. Brehm met, on his travels 
up the Blue Nile, so many of this beautiful bird, that he was able to kill 
twenty of them within two days. The female lays three to four white 
eggs of the size of duck eggs. The bird is easily domesticated and is 
found in many zoological gardens of Europe and America. 

A Feathered Idol. 

In Egypt the ibis was regarded with great veneration by the ancients, 
who kept them in their temples, and embalmed them after their death; 
thousands of their remains are still found in the burial places amid the 
ruins of ancient Egypt. Various reasons have been given for this cus- 
tom, some saying that the ibis destroyed the noxious serpents which 
were so numerous in that country ; others that there was supposed to be 
some analogy between the plumage of the bird and one of the phases of 
themOon; while a third opinion is that the birds were regarded with; 
favor, because, their annual migration into Eg3^pt taking place at the 
period of the rising of the Nile, they were considered as the harbingers 
of that event. 

Stanley's glowing descriptions of tropical scenery find a striking con- 
trast of the account given of the African desert, and the perils which 
often overtake travellers who attempt to cross it. 

The plain of Sahara is the gieat typical desert. Its name comes from 
an Arabic word, which means the plain. Not that the great desert is by 
any means an unbroken plain, or destitute of great variety in its physical 
characteristics. The true sandy desert occupies but a relatively small 
portion of the space marked upon our maps as the desert of Sahara ; and 
even upon the surface of this " true " desert the distribution of sand is 
very unequal. The stratum of the sand in some parts is so thin that the- 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 595 

underlying limestone is visible through it. The sandy region attains its 
greatest extent in the Libyan desert, and masses of sand still drift in 
from the Mediterranean, to settle down upon a bed which in a recent 
period was buried beneath the waves of the sea. These sand floods 
extend westward to Tripoli. Near that town the sandy stretches are 
varied by plantations of palm trees and fields of corn ; true deserts of 
yellow sand, passing like a yellow ribbon from west to east, between fields 
wheat and barley. 

Terrific Sand-storms, 

The western Mongolian desert contains plains of sand perfectly corres- 
ponding with those of the Sahara and the Arabian desert. Mounds of 
loose sand are blown together and scattered again by the wind : a mere 
breeeze is enough to wipe out all trace of a long caravan crossing the 
waste. The sand is so extremely fine and light, that in sudden storms 
of wind trenches of thirty or forty feet deep are hollowed out, and 
swelling waves are raised like those of the Libyan desert, making the 
journey tedious and difficult to the camels as they cross the shifting 
plain. 

It is true that large stretches of the plain of Sahara are covered by 
waves of sand, which were once sandy bars and dykes of the sea ; but the 
whole desert is by no means the product of the ocean alone. Very much 
of the sand is of local origin, formed from the soil of the desert plain by 
the sudden changes of temperature and the action of the wind There 
are many such centres of sand radiation, and the mechanically powdered 
fragments of rock are found in every phase of transition from crumbled 
stone to fine drift-sand. The ground above Khartoum, to the west 
of the Nile, consists partly of rose-colored granite, and the whole 
surface, of the rifted slope of rock is bestrewn with fragments of different 
sizes. 

Dust whirlwinds of considerable size are sometimes observed in the 
Russian steppes ; but the best known phenomena of this kind are the 
high sand pillars of Sahara. Even in Australia these rotary dust pillars 
are met with, generally being seen upon shadowless plains. It is thought 
that these Australian whirlwinds are the channels which carry the heated 
air from the ground to the higher strata. 

Fiery Wind. 

Instead of the rolling waves and cool breezes of the sea, this funereal 
region only gives out burning gusts, scorching blasts which seem to issue 
from the gates of hell ; these are the simoon or poison-wind, as the word 
signifies in Arab. The camel-driver knows this formidable enemy, and 



596 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

so soon as he sees it looming in the horizon, he raises his hands to 
heaven, and implores Allah ; the camels themselves seem terrified at its 
approach. A veil of reddish-black invades the gleaming sky, and very- 
soon a terrible and burning wind rises, bearing clouds of fine impalpable 
sand, which severely irritates the eyes and throat. 

The camels squat down and refuse to move, and the trav^ellers have no 
chance of safety except by making a rampart of the bodies of their beasts, 
and covering their heads so as to protect themselves against this scourge. 
Entire caravans have sometimes perished in these sand-storms ; it was 
one of them that buried the army of Cambyses when it was traversing 
the desert. 

Camp, in his charming work on the Nile, describes in the following 
terms one of these desert tempests. It comes towards one, he says, 
growing, spreading, and advancing as if on wheels. Its overhanging 
summit is of a brick color, its base deep red and almost black. In pro- 
portion as it approaches it drives before it burning effluvia, like the breath 
of a lime-kiln. Before it reaches us we are covered with its shadow. 
The sound it makes is like that of a wind passing through a pine-forest. 
So soon as we are in the midst of this hurricane the camels halt, turn 
their backs, throw themselves down, and lay their heads upon the sand. 
After the cloud of dust comes a rain of imperceptible stones, violently 
hurled about by the wind, and which, if it lasted long, would quickly flay 
the skin from those parts of the body unprotected by the clothes. This 
lasted five or six minutes, and was frightful. Then the sky became clear 
again, and gave the same feeling of sudden change to the eye as a light 
suddenly brought into a dark place. 

Extraordinary Storm Pillars. 

Whirlwinds are generally preceded by a sultry, oppressive air ; some- 
times by absolute calm ; but the state of the wind never appears clearly 
connected with the phenomena. The storm pillars vary greatly in form, 
the sand columns being generally funnel-shaped, and the water-spouts 
like a pipe surrounded at the base by whirling vapors and foaming water. 
The height and diameter are also variable ; some of the highest have 
been estimated at 6,000 feet. In many cases the damage caused by the 
water is of such a kind as to show that there has been an influx of air 
from every side toward the base of the column. 

But hurricanes, cyclones, and all the rush and roar of the elements, 
are not more wonderful than the curious forms of animal and insect life 
abounding in the Dark Continent. 

The reptile tribe is represented here by some of its most distinguished 



598 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

members. The monitor-lizard crawls along the river banks ; the moun- 
tain-monitor frequents the desert; a beautiful turtle lives in the Nile. 
Along the furrows and trenches, nimble bright-colored lizards bask in 
the sun, and the slippery skink burrows in the wall of almost every 
house. Along the walls of the houses dart and glide the nocturnal little 
gekkoes, the greedy but otherwise inoffensive "fathers of leprosy." 
Here and there i!ipon the trees is seen the changeful play of color of the 
familiar chameleon, while other reptiles, often brightly- colored, and some 
of them more than a yard long, love the desert solitudes. Egypt was 
always famous as the land of snakes. It has about twenty varieties, 
poisonous and non-poisonous. As in the days of Moses, so in our own 
times, there are a large number of snake charmers; the snakes which 
they use in their performances, especially the once sacred viper, urau 
snake, and the Egyptian spectacle snake, are always first deprived of 
their fangs. The snake most frequently depicted by the ancients is the 
very deadly and dangerous horned viper. 

Brilliant Insects. 

» 

In the great insect world Africa has many forms which are known in 
other parts of the world. Day butterflies are scarce, while moths are 
more abundant. The beetles are not exactly numerous, but among them 
are some very fine specimej;is of brilliant beetles, sand beetles, and derm- 
estes. The commonest are the blackbeetles, but the best known of all is 
the sacred scarabee beetle of Egypt, which is so frequently represented 
upon monuments and gems. 

A characteristic scene of animal life, often to be observed both in Cen- 
tral and South Africa, are the manoeuvres of a company of these droll 
little creatures busily employed rolling up manure into globes as large as 
a walnut, pushing and thrusting each other aside until the great business 
is completed, and then, with their heads bent down to the earth, rolling 
away the work of their feet to bury it in a convenient place. The beetle 
rolls up these balls to feed its young, and deposits its eggs in them. In 
the theological symbolism of the ancient Egyptians, these " pills " are 
compared to the substance of which the world was formed, and which 
was also represented as globular. The beetle itself is looked upon as the 
principle of light and creative force, which, in union with the sun, infuses 
into matter the germs of light and creation, as the beetle deposits its eggs 
in the ball. The deity Ptah (that is, the forming and impelling force) 
then gives to these germs their form, and creates the heavens and the 
earth. 

The wasp tribe is also represented by many fine and large varieties. 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 



599 



The bee is nearly akin to our own, and has often been introduced into 
other countries. Ants, locusts, and cockroaches are at times great pests. 
The common house-fly is nowhere more bold and importunate, and suc- 
ceeds only too completely in rendering an otherwise pleasant life most 




AFRICAN GEKKO OR WALL-LIZARD. 

-disagreeable. The stinging gnat is just as bad, and its unceasing hum is 
almost more calculated to drive a new-comer to despair than its painful, 
burning sting. 

At certain times its worm-like larvae abound in all standing waters, 
swarm in the drinking water, which can only be drunk when strained 



600 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

through a cloth, or, as is the usual practice with the poorer classes^ 
through the coat-sleeve held between the pitcher and the lips. Vermin, 
are only too abundantly represented ; fleas, bugs, and lice of every kincf 
abound, besides scorpions, tarantulas, centipedes, and leeches, and those 
implacable tormentors of animals, horse-flies and gnats. The monoto- 
nous character of the whole country is perceptible throughout its flora 
and fauna, for in almost every class of the animal world the number or 
varieties is comparatively small. 

Brambles and Donkeys. 

We now turn our attention to the country lying eastward toward the 
Red Sea. The path lies through a desert, which is not, however, wholly 
destitute of vegetation ; where, after abundant rain, the valleys are trans- 
formed into verdant pasture lands. The vegetation is most abundant from 
February to April, but the almost tropical heat destroys one plant after 
another, leaving only the more deeply rooted growths for the summer 
months. The plateau-like western portion of the desert resembles, both 
in its appearance and vegetation, the Libyan desert, and is very poor in. 
vegetable life. 3y far the most common plant of these regions is the 
desert bramble, a half-shrub, with flowers like its kindred plant, the 
radish ; it is this plant especially which, when seen from afar, gives to the 
valley the appearance of green meadow-land. 

The wise Egyptian donkey, nothwithstanding the preference shown by 
his European kindred for thistles, is prudent enough to keep at a respect- 
ful distance from this plant, which the hard-mouthed dromedary can eat 
with great relish ; chewing the prickly masses without losing one drop of 
blood ; he even swallows with delight the thorns of the acacia. In many- 
places a plant resembling broom grows freely; it is a long branched, 
almost leafless bush, much liked by camels. 

Shadowy groves of tamarisk, frequented by many birds and insects, 
often surprise us in the midst of the most barren solitudes ; and wherever 
the soil has received any moisture, willows and rushes refresh the eye of 
the traveller. Cassia ranks high among the list of medicinal plants found 
in the desert, and colocynth, with its creeping cucumber-like stems, filled 
with fruit resembling our apple, first green and then turning yellow, is 
found along all the outskirts of the valleys. The natives have a whole- 
some awe of the drastic remedy, and scarcely ever touch the gourd fruit; 
while the Bedouins remove the inside pith and seeds, and fill it with milk, 
to take it next day as a remedy. 

The date palm, it is true, is seldom seen, and then only in a half-wild- 
state ; but the fig tree is found laden with fruits. The fruit of the caper 




GIGANTIC BEETLE. 



(601) 



•602 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

tree tastes like an odd mixture of sugar and mustard ; and the traveller 
is refreshed by the pleasant acid of the sorrel, the berries of .the lycium, 
a thorny plant. The coast flora of the desert is very peculiar, and depends 
upon the salt vapors rising from the sea. The dense woods of the shore 
• are famous in travellers' descriptions; they stand out in the sea itself, and 
are only dry at low tide. Ships are laden with its wood, which is used 
for fuel, and many camels live entirely on its great laurel-like leaves. The 
coast is covered in some places to great distances by saltpetre shrubs, 
and by many other saline plants. 

The traveller who is forced to provide himself with food by his rifle in 
the chase devotes his attention chiefly to the wild oxen, wild pigs, and 
-different kinds of antelopes which provide him with eatable food when 
there are no tame creatures, such as goats, sheep, fowl, and fish, to be 
met with. The latter case, however, is seldom experienced, for domestic 
animals are sure to be found wherever there are Negro settlements. 

The wild ox is the same as the short-horned breed, also found in 
East Africa. The wild pig, which is also found, and frequently makes its 
appearance in herds, is known as the long-eared pig. Its color is a dark 
yellowish red. The flesh is pleasant as food, and is liked also by Negroes. 
The wild pigs are generally caught by the help of spears and pits dug to 
■ensnare them. These traps make certain parts of the woods rather dan- 
gerous to walk in, and the traveller has to submit blindly to his guides, 
who are taken from the adjoining neighborhood, and who know exactly 
where such traps are laid. In the east and the south, this " most beauti- 
ful of all possible pigs " is*replaced by the bush pig, while the whole of 
Central Africa is the home of the clumsiest and ugliest of all known bristly 
animals, the wart-hog. 

Elegant Animals. 

There are at least ten kinds of antelopes in the forests of Gaboon and 
"the district of the Ogowe, from the elegant little dwarf antelope, which 
stands scarcely twenty inches high, to the white-striped antelope of Bango, 
which reaches the size of a fallow deer. Large herds of these animals, 
which are so frequently found in the open plateaus of Central Africa, are 
naturally unknown in the dense woods of the western part of the con- 
tinent. From the exceptional character of the animals, their extreme 
shyness and speed, they are very hard to capture in the chase, and even 
the Negroes generally catch them only in pits. Indeed, a successful 
hunt, with a large amount of booty, is a very rare occurrence. Although 
the woods are filled with game, the traveller seldom comes across them, 
and it is a mistaken notion to imagine that one has but to enter the high 



STANLEYS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 603 

woods of the Tropics, and fire away right and left, in order to bring home 
an abundance of food. 

Of the larger beasts of prey, the leopard is represented ; it is met with 
all along the west coast, and is erroneously termed a tiger. It is very 
abundant in certain districts, and particularly dangerous to the herds of 
goats and flocks of sheep belonging to the factors and the Negroes ; 
indeed, it sometimes attacks men. When our traveller was spending a 
few days in a village of Banschaka, it happened that a woman who went 
late at night to a well about half a mile from the huts did not return, and 
on the following day evident traces of the disaster were discovered. It 
was, as usual, firmly believed among all the Negroes of the west coast, 
that the event was not in the natural order of things, but that some one 
an the village, transformed into a leopard, had devoured the woman. 

Swift Punislinient. 

The family of the unhappy woman went to the priest and magician of 
the place, who soon discovered the culprit, and sentenced him to eat the 
poisonous bark of a tree, which paralyzes the action of the heart, and 
•occasions certain death if it is not speedily expelled from the system. 

It may be readily imagined that accidents frequently occur in the great 
African hunts, as it is quite impossible to speculate upon the species of 
animals that may be driven into the net. One day a native was suddenly 
attacked and was killed by a leopard within a mile of my station. 
The grass had been fired, and the animals instinctively knew that they 
were pursued. 

The man went to drink at a stream close to some high bushes, when a 
leopard pounced upon him without the slightest warning. A native who 
was close to the spot rushed up to the rescue, and threw his spear with 
such dexterity that he struck the leopard through the neck while it had 
the man in its mouth, killing it upon the spot. The man was immedi- 
ately broughtto me, but the lungs were lacerated, and he died during the 
night. 

On another occasion five men were wounded (two fatally) by a lioness, 
which fought so gallantly that she at length escaped from her assailants 
with two spears in her body. I was not present on that occasion, but I 
have frequently admired the pluck of the natives, who attack every 
animal with the simple hunting-spear, which of course necessitates a close 
approach. 

The Negroes eat everything in the shape of flesh, except the feline 
beasts of prey. Some of the smaller kinds of felines are as dangerous 
to poultry as are the large species of falcons and eagles. With respect 




(604) 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 605 

to several kinds of flesh which are considered by us to be uneatable, we 
■may say that different kinds of monkeys, porcupines, large rats, croco- 
diles, and other creatures, are used for food. It is very singular that the 
Negroes do not understand the milking of their domestic animals, and 
were above measure astonished when the explorers' servants milked the 
goats, and gave the milk to their master ; and the Negroes often sur- 
rounded him in crowds to see him eat hens' eggs, a diet quite new to 
them, although they ate numbers of the large round eggs of the turtle, 
and the still larger crocodile eggs. 

Mosquitoes abound everywhere ; and next to them ranks an insect 
which has only been known in Africa during the last ten years — the sand 
flea, which is said to have been brought by the crew of a Brazilian ship 
who were suffering from them. They multiplied with incredible rapidity. 
The animalculae enter the skin beneath the toe-nails, where they lay a 
bag of eggs as large as a pea ; and the difficulty is to remove this bag 
"without breaking it. If this is done, the wound soon heals ; but if not^ 
painful sores are the result, and the process of healing is very slow. 
Another interesting insect is the giant beetle, Goliath, an insect measur- 
ing nearly four inches. This black velvety beetle, marked with white on 
its upper side, is at home throughout all Africa ; and, with its kindred 
types, forms one of the principal treasures of our collections, being so 
much in request that twenty-five dollars is paid for a fine specimen. 

The Famous Gorilla. 

The most interesting animals of these countries are beyond all doubt 
the gorilla and the chimpanzee. The gorilla is the largest of the man- 
like apes, an animal rather shorter, but considerably more broad- 
shouldered than a strong man. Although the gorilla was mentioned 
more than 2,000 years ago, by Hanno, the commander of a Carthaginian 
fleet, it is even now very imperfectly known. If the statements respect-, 
ing the strength and savageness of the gorilla are only half true, there is 
little prospect of ever being able to bring over full-grown specimens to 
America ; and the young gorilla presented to the zoological garden of 
Berlin unfortunately fell a victim to the foreign climate. Even the skin, 
skeleton, and remains of the gorilla preserved in spirits, are ranked 
among the greatest treasures of our Natural History Museums. 

The second representative of the African man-like apes is compara- 
tively "frequent, and is well-known under the name of the chimpanzee, 
though few full-grown specimens have been brought to this continent ; 
it is much smaller, slenderer, and more elegantly built than the gorilla, 
and often measures sixty inches in length. While the gorilla frequents 






















r'^V 




(606) 



THE WORLD-RENOWNED GORILLA. 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 607 

the densest woods, and is only found in the lands near the coast, the 
chimpanzee inhabits the whole of the West African sub-division, and' 
seems to prefer being near the open clearings of the forests ; both kinds 
of ape feed principally on fruits, nuts, and the young shoots of trees, 
perhaps also on roots. 

As to the mental qualities of the chimpanzee in captivity, much has 
been written, and it is agreed that the animal may be ranked among the 
most highly gifted of its race. It not only learns to know its master, to 
love its friends, and avoid its enemies ; it is not only inquisitive, but 
actually desirous of knowledge. Any object which has once excited 
its attention increases in value as soon as it has learned how to use it ; 
the chimpanzee is cunning, self-willed, but not stubborn, desiring what is 
good for itself, betraying humor and caprices ; one day cheerful and 
excited, another depressed and sullen. 

A Very Human Animal. 

When ill, it is patient under the surgeon's knife ; and, according to 
Brehm, if not entirely human, has a great deal of the human within it- 
It cannot therefore excite our surprise that the natives of West Africa 
are of opinion that the chimpanzees were once men, who, on account of 
their bad qualities, have been thrust out from human companionship ; and 
still persisting in yielding to their evil impulses, have gradually sunk to 
their present degraded condition. Less is known of the chimpanzee in 
a state of freedom ; like the gorilla, it does not live in troops, as do other 
monkeys, but in pairs, or even alone ; it is only occasionally that the 
young are seen to assemble in larger bands. The chase is difficult. From 
twenty to thirty skilled hunters are required for the pursuit. To them is 
entrusted the difficult commission of climbing up the trees for more thaa 
eighty feet, trying to outdo the chimpanzee in speed, and to capture it 
in the nets, after which it is easily despatched by lances. 

When thus brought to bay, the apes defend themselves with savage- 
fury, sometimes snatching the spears from the hunter's hand, and strik- 
ing out wildly right and left ; and even more dangerous than this method 
of defence is the grip of their pointed teeth, and the amazing muscular 
power of their nervous arms. Here, as in the woods on the western 
coast, legends are current of their carrying off human beings, and of the 
curious nest which it is said they build of leafy branches in the crest of 
the forest trees. 

We must not omit to mention the smaller kinds of apes ; for although 
they are very numerous in all the primeval woods of the tropical belt of 
Africa, they are principally found along the west coast and near the 



'608 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Upper Nile. The name sea-cats, by which they are sometimes known, 
^was given centuries ago to these merest and prettiest specimens of the 
monkey tribe, because they were brought over the sea to Europe, and 
because something in their shape resembles the cat. The favorites of 
the children, the nimble, quarrelsome, amusing inhabitants of our men- 
ageries and zoological gardens, which sometimes win from the grave 
man of science a smile, belong to this category. The greyish green 
imonkey, the slate-colored, white-bearded Diana, the ill-tempered black 
'monkey, the reddish huzzar monkey, and numerous other kinds, are 
included in this family. 

It is a real pleasure to meet with a band of these monkeys in the for- 
>est ; it is a wild chaos of busy life, crying and fighting, quarrelling and 
reconciliation, climbing, running, pilfering and plundering, grimacing 
and contortion. They recognize no leader of their commonwealth, 
• except the strongest of their race ; they acknowledge no law but that 
•enforced by the sharp teeth and strong hands of their chief ; they con- 
sider that no danger can exist from which he is not able to set them free; 
they adapt themselves to every position, have no fear of drought or fam- 
ine, and spend their lives in perpetual activity and merriment. ' Their 
chief characteristic is the combination of most amusing earnestness with 
iboundless frivolity, which accompanies the beginning and end of all their 
pursuits. 

Inveterate Thieves. 

No tree crest is too high, no treasure too safely hidden, no property 
"too respected, for their attacks. It is therefore not astonishing that the 
■natives of East Soudan only speak of them with unutterable contempt 
and anger. " Only think, sir, the clearest proof of the godless nature of 
monkeys may be seen in their never bowing before the word of God's 
ambassadors : all other creatures honor and revere the prophet; Allah's 
peace be upon him ! The monkeys despise him. The man who writes 
an amulet, and hangs it up in his field to keep off the hippopotamus, the 
elephant, and the monkeys from devouring his fruit and injuring his 
property, always finds that the elephant alone pays any heed to the 
warning signal ; that is because he is a righteous beast, while the ape has 
ibeen transformed by the wrath of Allah into an abomination to all men ; 
a child of the unrighteous one, just as the hippopotamus is the forbidding 
image of the loathsome sorcerer." 

But for the impartial spectator it is an attractive and interesting spec- 
tacle to watch a band of monkeys setting off upon their predatory expe- 
'ditions. The audacity they displayed used to delight me as much as it 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 609 

enraged the natives. Under the leadership of the old veteran father of 
the tribe they approach the corn fields, the females carrying their young 
before them, instead of on their backs; the young ones, to make them- 
selves perfectly secure, twist their short tails round the tail of their lady 
mother. At first they approached with great circumspection, travelling 
generally from one tree top to another. 

The old leader goes first, the others following exactly in his steps, not 
only seizing the same trees, but the same portion of the same branch. 
From time to time the leader climbs the highest tree, and surveys the 
country with careful glances: if his examination is satisfactory, the good 
news is announced to his followers by a low gurgling sound; if not, the 
usual warning is given. When close to the field, the band descends the 
tree, and hastens in vigorous leaps towards its paradise, and then the 
work begins with indescribable rapidity. First of all they lay in a stock. 
Quickly are the clusters of maize and ears of durrah torn down and 
stuffed into the mouth, until the cheeks are distended to the uttermost, 
and not until these storehouses are full do the marauders allow them- 
selves any relaxation. They then begin to be more particular and dainty 
in the choice of their food. All the ears and clusters are carefully sniffed 
and examined after being broken off; and if, as is often the case, they do 
not come up to the required standard, they are at once thrown away. It 
may be safely said that of nine clusters which are gathered, only one is 
eaten; and generally the epicures only take a grain or two out of each 
ear, and then throw the rest away. 

Quick Ketreat. 

All the members of the band place implicit confidence in the care and 
prudence of their leader. The latter often rouses himself from the most 
dainty morsel to attend to his duties, standing upright on his hind legs, 
and looking keenly round. After each survey he announces the result 
either by the gurgling sound, which indicates that he has seen nothing 
disquieting, or by the peculiar inimitable quivering cry of warning. 
When that sound is heard, his followers are gathered together in a mo- 
ment, the mothers call their young ones, and all are at once ready for 
flight. The retreat is accomplished without the slightest sign of terror 
or cowardice. 

The gorilla and monkey tribes appear to be closely allied to the 
orang-outang, found in some of the tropical islands. We here quote 
from the interesting narrative of a tropical traveller, who captured several 
orangs : 

This monkey is found in Borneo, and thither Thursday (Thursday was 

39 



610 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

a native) — now grown more civilized and more indispensable — and I 
turned our faces. We took passage on a craft going out with Chinese 
laborers, and a hard voyage we had of it, with head winds and a heavy 
sea. But at last, ten days late, we arrived at Saraouak, and immediately 
inquired of the native hunters where we could best find- the game for 
which we were in search. They advised the Sadong River, running to 
the east from Saraouak, and bordered its entire length with dense forests. 
I hired a Dyak porter to carry our provisions, and we set out. Two 
days later we were floating on the river, and my ardent desire was about 
to be gratified. 

Arms Liong-er tliaii Leg^s. 

Orang-outang is a word meaning in Borneo, "Man-of-the-Forest," 
and is applied to what is now a species of small stature, rarely five feet 
high, but of stalwart build, the body being often in circumference two- 
thirds of the l^eight. His arms are a quarter longer than his legs, so 
that when travelling on all fours his attitude is half upright; but he never 
really stands on his legs like a man, popular belief to the contrary not- 
withstanding. When young his colo'r is tawny, but he grows black with 
years. 

The orangs live in couples in the most secluded parts of the forest, and 
are never active, like the chimpanzees, but sit all day with their legs 
round a branch, their heads forward in the most uncomfortable attitude, 
occasionally uttering mournful sounds. When pursued they climb slowly 
up a tree, and at night sleep in the huts built to cover their young, of 
which they are very careful, and whose wants they supply with almost 
human tenderness and devotion. When taken young they are suscep- 
tible of taming and domesticating, like the chimpanzee, but as they grow 
older they become cross and violent, and, curiously enough, the fore- 
head — prominent in the adult — becomes retreating in later years. 

Formidable Foe. 

After waiting some days without seeing any orangs, my native guide 
advised our going away from the river, deeper into the unbroken forest; 
and this we did, a two days' march. One morning, just as I had killed 
and was examining a queer wild pig, I heard a rustling in the leaves over 
my head, and looking up, was paralyzed with surprise to see, some 
twenty-five or thirty feet above me, an enormous orang-outang quietly 
seated on a tamarind branch, watching me and grinding his teeth. My 
porter was making ,rae elaborate signals of distress which Thursday 
translated into advice to shoot the beast, who was old and fully grown, 
with, my explosive-ball rifle. . 




(611) 



612 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" He says he is an evil one," added Thursday, " and that the old orangs 
are very dangerous and will attack a man at sight." 

"All right," I replied. " If he offers to attack us, I will stop him 
promptly with a bullet." 

It is true that one of my most ardent desires was to obtain a skeleton 
of a fully-developed orang-outang, but I decided to postpone the gratifi- 
cation of it until I should have watched the animal's movements in a 
state of absolute freedom. I told my men to clap their hands and shout, 
to scare him, but all he did was to sit and grind his teeth ; and I was 
almost persuaded to try my Dyak's advice, when the orang-outang 
coolly grasped a branch hanging near, and swung himself slowly from 
tree to tree without any apparent effort, about as fast as we could walk 
beneath. We followed him until the dense undergrowth made the path 
impracticable. An athlete would have performed this trapeze act with, 
perhaps, more grace, but nothing could surpass the indolent ease with 
which he left us behind. 

Must Kill or be Killed, 

This was my first interview with this peculiar animal ; and the super- 
stitious Dyak assured Thursday, relating numerous parallel cases, that as 
I had not killed the orang, the orang would certainly kill me. He said 
he had known a great many travellers who had been attacked by them 
and killed, and that I would soon join their number, although he con- 
fessed that he had never himself been present at such a misfortune. 

One morning, as I was returning from a long walk through the 
woods in search of insects, one of my boys came running toward me., 
shouting with excitement, " Quick, take your gun ! a large orang, a large 



orang 



He had only breath enough left to tell me the animal was up the path 
toward the Chinaman's camp, and I hurried in that direction followed by 
two Dyaks. One barrel of my gun was loaded with ball, and I sent 
Charley — the boy — back to camp for more ammunition, in case I should 
find the game had kindly waited for me. We walked carefully, making 
almost no noise, stopping every now and then to look round ourselves, 
until Charley rejoined us at the spot where he had seen the orang, and 
I put ball in the other barrel and waited, sure that we were near the 
game. In a moment or two I heard a heavy body moving from tree to 
tree, but the foliage was so thick we could see nothing. 

Finally, fearing I might lose him entirely, I fired at guess into a tree in 
which we thought he must be. For so large an animal he moved with 
remarkable swiftness and hilence, but I felt sure, if we could follow his 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 613 

general course, we should eventually catch sight of him in some more 
open bit of forest. And so it proved. 

Cutting^ Down the Tree. 

Just at the spot where he had first been seen by Charley, and to which 
we had now got back, his tawny side and black head appeared for an 
instant ; I saw him cross the path, dragging one leg as if it had been 
broken. At any rate, he could not use it, and he took refuge between 
two branches of a lofty tulip-tree, sheltered from sight by the thick 
growth of glossy leaves. I was afraid he would die up there, and I 
should never get him or his skeleton. It was no use trying to get the 
Dyaks to climb the tree and cut the branch from under him; they were 
afraid, and said so. We tried to dislodge him with all sorts of missiles, 
but in vain. Finally we started to cut down the tree ; but when the 
trunk was severed the tree only leaned over, and was held in that position 
by innumerable tough vines running to a dozen neighboring trees. It 
would take us all night to cut them all down ; still, we began the work, 
which almost immediately gave the tree such a shaking that down came 
the gigantic orang with a tremendous thud. When we came to measure 
him, we found him a giant indeed, stretching from hand to hand over six 
feet. When he fell the Chinamen lashed him to a litter and carried him 
into camp, where it took Charley and myself all day to clean his skin and 
boil the flesh from his skeleton. From this and many similar experiences 
I have become convinced that, in spite of stories to the contrary, the 
orang-outang never attacks man. His policy is always flight, and to my 
own testimony is added that of all the Chinese wood-cutters whom I met 
in Borneo ; and the island is full of them. 

A Young- Orang'. 

Soon after this a young orang fell into my hands, and I determined to 
rear him if I could. I started the Dyak off in search of a goat, and told 
him not to return until he found one. Meanwhile I mixed sugar, bread, 
and water together, and, although at first he declined it energetically, he 
soon sucked it from my finger with a decided gusto. It proved, how- 
ever, too strong food for so young a stomach, and I was just beginning 
to think he would die on my hands, when the Dyak, followed by a 
Chinaman and a goat, came into camp. The Chinaman was shaip at 
trading; but finally, after pretending that I cared nothing whatever about 
his goat, and after long haggling on his part, starting at one hundred 
rupees (twelve dollars and fifty cents) and coming down to five, the goat 
became mine, and the little orang-outang obtained a step-mother that 
soon rivalled its own mother in tenderness. She nursed it and caressed 




APES AMONG THE TREEi 



(614) 



STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 615 

it exactly as if it had been her own, and a very pretty sight it was. He 
soon grew large enough to travel on his own sturdy legs, at any sudden 
alarm running quickly back to his nurse and clinging to her with his 
sinewy fingers. 

When he strayed away out of her sight in the woods, it was really 
pathetic to hear her bleatings and his answering cries. He had gradu- 
ally come to know me, and he treated us all with the greatest gentleness. 
When he was three months old I began to give him bananas, of which 
he was very fond, and he afterward became accustomed to other fruits ; 
but nothing ever pleased him like the goat's milk. 

He learned very quickly, and at five months knew all objects in my 
tent by name, bringing to me anything I called for, which was certainly 
more than many children of two or even three years could have done. 
But with the latter, development progresses with giant strides after that 
age, while with an orang it ceases. What an animal is at one year of 
age he always remains. 

A Clever Monkey. 

One morning a Chinaman came to offer for sale a tiny monkey which 
he had partially tamed. This little animal looked like a pygmy beside 
my young orang, but he could do a variety of things, like feeding him- 
self, etc., that the larger was not yet up to. So I bought him, and put 
them in the same hut, where they soon became fast friends ; the monkey, 
on account of his more perfectly developed faculties, being easily master. 

When he wanted to sleep nothing would do but that the orang must 
lie down too, and let him pillow his head on him. But there was ■ 
another side to this ; for the orang-outang looked upon him as a kind of 
doll, invented for his particular enjoyment, and when he felt in playful 
mood, he would seize the monkey by the ear or the neck or the tail, and 
swing him round and hold him in any uncomfortable position at his own 
sweet will. The monkey would rage and even weep, but only interfer- 
ence on our part would stop this rough treatment. He learned early, as 
all animals do, to distinguish the members of our party and their rela- 
tions, and, as master, he always treated me with respectful obedience. 

I taught him to eat rice boiled in milk, and to use a spoon and bowl 
like his little friend, who, by the way, was fond of .stealing from him all 
he safely could. They were both gluttons, and nothing amused Thurs- 
day more than to set them quarrelling over some bit of choice fruit. As 
the orang's teeth grew, his temper and character became more pro- 
nounced, and, like an ill brought-up child, he wished all around him to 
give way to his whims. 



616 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

He had no consideration whatever for the Dyak, who washed and 
tended him with the greatest patience, but tried to pull his hair and bite 
him whenever the mood seized him. I named him Joseph and the mon- 
key Jack — after my chimpanzee friend — and they answered promptly to 
their names when called, without mistake, I was proud of them and 
their accomplishments, and tempted to send them home to some natural- 
ist, but chance prevented. You should have seen them — Jack, a napkin 
round his neck, seated at a corner of the table eating slowly with fork 
and spoon, like any well-taught child : Joseph, with a napkin over his 
arm, waiting upon him as solemnly as an English butler. To be sure, 
they stole the best fruit — but then, no one is perfect! It was with a real 
pang that I left these little fellows behind with a friend, to whom I gave 
them on my departure from Borneo. 

Perhaps this is the only case on record of the growth in captivity of a 
young orang-outang, and it is interesting to note in what ways he 
resembled a child. When very young he lay nearly always on his back, 
with his legs in the air, and when he wanted anything he simply put his 
head back and howled till he got it. When he first began to walk it 
was with the same timid hesitation that a child does, and when he suc- 
ceeded in taking a few steps without falling, he glanced at us with a 
very human look of triumph. The appearance of the goat always caused 
him a high degree of satisfaction, expressed, again like a child on the 
entrance of its mother, by little sighs of contentment. I may say, indeed, 
that up to the age of four«or five months 1 saw nothing different in him 
from what I have remarked in a child except that difference of develop- 
ment mentioned before. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 

rhrilling Incidents in the Life of Baldwin— A Man of Rare Attainments — Boid 
Hunter — Kaffirs and Hottentots — Terrible Drought — Two Stately Giraffes — A 
Rickety Old Wagon — Trouble With an Ancient Musket — Greedy Kaffir — Hostile 
Natives — Loud Talk and Bluster — The Land for Brilliant Sport— Troop of 
Elephants — The Buffalo and Rhinoceros — Bright and Burning Sun— Story of a 
Little African — Swimming a Turbid River — In Pursuit of a Huge Elephant — 
Crashing Through the Thicket — Hunter Charged by an Elephant — Fat Meat and 
Half-starved Natives — Immense Beasts Disappear Like Magic — Canoes Upset 
and their Crews Drowned— Race of Savages Always at War — Covetous Chief— 
An Open Air Dinner — Kaffir Girls for Waiters — Description of Kaffir Beauties— 
Roasted Giraffe for Dinner— An Unscrupulous Rascal — Trying to Get the Best of 
the Bargain — In Pursuit of Elands — Ridmg at a Slashing Pace — Floundering 
Among Pit-falls — Another Encounter With Elephants — Perilous Situation — In 
Close Contact With an Immense Beast — Shots That Went Home — A Famous 
Bird— Pathetic Death of a Dog — Combats With Tigers — Exciting Events in the 
Jungle — Indiscriminate Combat — Savage Charge by a BufTalo — Caught Among 
Prickly Thorns — Beast that Cannot Be Driven — Chase of the Giraffe— Unique 
Animal — Eyes of Wonderful Beauty — Elegant Roan Antelope — Crisis of Fate — A 
Herd of Harrisbucks — The Plumed Ostrich — Ingenious Method of Getting 
Water— Ostrich Chicks— Not Particular as to Food. 

as our object is to present every phase of life in the Continent of 
Africa, not merely following those great explorers whose aim is 
to make discoveries, prepare the way for commerce, and change 
the character of the savage races, but to also follow the adven- 
tures of the qhase, we present some remarkable incidents in the life of 
William Charles Baldwin, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 
whose graphic description of his life in South Africa may well be re-pro- 
duced here and will certainly be read with absorbing interest. 

Mr. Baldwin was not only a scholarly man, w^ell fitted by natural attain- 
ments to hold the position of member of the Royal Geographical Society, 
but he was a very spirited hunter, a man fond of the jungle and the plain, 
a man of great nerve and endurance, and probably no hunter in Africa 
can tell so many thrilling tales as he. To some of these we now invite 
the reader's attention, and we shall allow Mr. Baldwin to narrate his 
adventures in his own language. 

He says : I am now left entirely to my own devices in the deserts of 
South Africa, with three Kaffirs, two Hottentots, a driver and after- 

(617) 



618 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

rider, a wagon, eighteen oxen, a cow and calf, five horses and seven dogs, 
with guns, powder and lead, beads, wire, and supplies of tea, coffee, meal, 
etc., for a twelvemonth at least. 

It is a great change to find myself entirely alone after the row and 
racket of hitching up eleven wagons daily, but it is my own doing, and 
from my own choice. This is the beginning of the new Kaffir chiefs 
reign; he is talking very largely, and has succeeded in frightening my 
Hottentots considerably, and they come to me with long faces to know ■ 
what I will do. My answer is, " Hitch up at once, and get through his 
country as quick as possible." A full complement of elands and 
giraffes have fallen to our rifles, and a lion killed one of our oxen one 
pitch dark night and escaped unhurt. 

Terrible Droiitli. 

I bought for beads about 600 lbs. of Kaffir corn, and the wagon is 
very heavy. The poor oxen are much to be pitied, having to drag it 
through deep, heavy sand, under a broiling sun, without one drop of 
water to cool their throats for two days. We must travel most of the 
night, too, as in the heat of the day they cannot move. A drop of cold, 
clear, sparkling water would be the greatest luxury that could be set 
before me just now; what we do get is stagnant, muddy stuff, from pits 
made by the Kaffirs, which they carefully fence round with hack-thorns 
to keep the game from drinking them dry. Two stately giraffes walked 
yesterday parallel with the wagon, not more than 400 yards off, for 
nearly half an hour, and we did not molest theni^ as we had a super- 
abundance of flesh for men and dogs. 

This has been almost the driest season ever known, and travelling in 
in this thirst-land is no easy matter; you must undergo great hardships 
and much anxiety for your poor live-stock. I have sad misgivings about 
my wagon, which is twenty-seven years old, and very shaky and rickety ; 
but perhaps, with the aid of green hides and rhinoceros skin, she may 
hold together. There are hardships enough in travelling in the thirst- 
land without the anxiety of fearing lest your old wagon should leave you 
in the desert far from any human assistance. I believe I have almost 
every other requisite for exploring the continent — health, strength, a con- 
stitution well inured to the climate, a constant supply of good spirits, a 
knack of gaining the good-will of the Kaffirs, natives, and Hottentots, 
who will go anywhere and do anything for me, as I always lend a hand 
at anything, and study their comforts as well as my own. I have no ties 
of kindred or friends here to make me wish myself among them. I never 
weary with vain regrets, but always make myself happy, and endeavor to 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 619 

make the best of everything, and interest myself in the journey 
throughout. 

I have now got a two-grooved rifle, the most perfect weapon I ever 
handled. Jt shoots perfectly frue with any charge of powder, but the 
recoil will, I fear, twist me out of the saddle. 

The reader will perceive that Baldwin is narrating events as they were 
recorded in his journal from day to day. 

Trouble With an Old Musket. 

A Kaffir brought an old musket to be mended, and, in botching away 
at the lock, I succeeded in breaking it in two places beyond my skill to 
mend. Although I tried to explain to him that it was accidental, and 
that I was doing all I could to assist him without any compensation, and 
had worked unremittingly at it for near two days, and that it was useless 
to him when he brought it, and consequendy it was no worse now, he 
would listen to nothing : I had broken his gun, and I must give him 
another; and, being a great man, brother to Chapeau, the captain, and 
having a strong force at command, I was forced to submit, take his 
old useless musket, and give him one three times the value. There is no 
arguing with a Kaffir; he said that Wilson, a white man, did the same 
— that is, broke his gun in endeavoring to mend it, and instantly went to 
the wagon and gave him a new one. I do not doubt that he did so, as 
he had a lot of muskets. In the Kaffirs' eyes a gun is a gun. 

A party of Bamangwatos followed the wagon, well armed with spears, 
axes, bows and arrows, and two guns, saying that I must not hunt in 
their country until I first paid them for leave to do so ; and that if I did 
not do so, and persisted in hunting, they would kill us all. My fellows 
talked very big, especially Auguste, a large, powerful Kaffir, saying that 
if they wanted to fight they must come on; we were quite ready for 
them at any moment, having plenty of guns and powder. I said nothing, 
but let things take their course, and merely ordered the wagon to go on, 
and left the Bamangwatos to do whatever they thought best. At night I 
served out plenty of powder and bullets, a watch was kept, and every 
man had his gun handy. My fellows talk largely, but what they would 
do in case of an actual skirmish I don't know. I don't place much con- 
fijjnce in one of them, nor do I fear the Kaffirs, unless they can catch 
luj unprepared — and I and my gun are constant companions. 
A Land for Brilliant Sport. 

This river appears of immense breadth ; nor do I see any possible way 
of crossing it, as I do not know where the stream runs to, and, as far as 
the eye can reach, there is nothing to be seen but reeds so tall and thick 



620 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

that it is impossible to force your way through them. There is safe har- 
bor here for all the game and wild animals in South Africa. I never saw 
anything like it, and my Hottentots say it is the same all the way to 
Lake Ngami, about thirteen days from here in a wagon. It is not far, 
but the sand is so heavy that the oxen can only take slow and short 
stages. We have plenty of good water now, but the frightful annoyance 
from mosquitoes at night counterbalances this advantage. I know of no 
country in the world that can compare with Africa for brilliant sport, but 
it must be confessed that this part of it is a sandy desert only fit to keep 
a few miserable goats in existence. There is not a bite of grass now 
except along the edge of the reeds, but then it is winter. Although the 
sun is overpowering in the day, it is very cold in the early mornings and 
at nights, and it requires a considerable amount of courage to get from 
under the blankets before sunrise. 

I found yesterday the fresh trail of a troop of elephants, some very 
large bulls and cows intermixed, and tracked them to the water. Last 
night all the dogs were made fast, and small fires only allowed, as we were 
by far too near the elephants' trail with the wagon ; but, luckily, the wind 
was right, and John and I went this morning, as soon as it was light ' 
enough to see, to find out whether the elephants had drunk last night, 
but they had not. I wait quiet to-day in hopes they may come 
to-night; if not, I shall take the old trail and goinquest of them to-mor- 
row, for if they don't come to-night they must find water somewhere else, 
as they must drink every second night at the longest. 

There is plenty of buffalo, giraffe, and rhinoceros, but this is not what 
I want. The elephants are wary, and very hard indeed to come at, as 
they are now so much sought for, and every savage knows the value of 
the ivory. I have tried fishing to-day, as I dare not fire a shot for fear of 
frightening the elephants, who cannot be far away ; but the water was too 
clear and the sun too bright to do any good. 

A Little African. 

One day I bought, for the identical old musket before mentioned that I 
was forced to take in exchange, and which I had managed to patch up 
with an old nail and the sinews of a buck, a little Masara boy — a 
waddling infant, certainly not more than two years old, but with an intel- 
ligent countenance, and not yet starved — whom I named Leche ; and he 
is a fine, quick little fellow. I am now quite fond of him. A gang of 
Bamangwatos, returning from hunting jackals, lynxes, wild cats, and 
skins of all kinds, had picked up this poor little urchin. They remained 
all night by my wagon, and the one who called himself owner brought 







HERD OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS. 



(621) 



622 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

him to me. My interpreter told me that if I did not take him they were 
just as hkely to leave him as not, if they got tired of carrying him across 
the desert ; and knowing the fate in store for him, even if they got liim 
home — the slave of a Bamangwato, who live from hand to mouth them- 
selves — I took compassion on him, and rescued him from their hands. 

One afternoon we unhitched close to the river, within a few hundred 
yards of where elephants had drunk the previous night, and we made all 
ready for a hunt in the morning ; and I was awakened at dawn by hear- 
ing loud cries from the Masaras, over the river, that the elephants had 
drunk there in the night. We swam the horses over with the aid of a 
canoe. The river is about 300 yards across, but the bottom is good, and 
the stream is not strong. The water is deliciously cold and clear — a 
great treat in this desert land. 

A Huge Monster. 

We took up the trail on the opposite side of three bulls, not, however, 
until the bones had been cast, and the witch-doctor or prophet liad fore- 
told that we should find them, and that I should shoot a fat bull, with 
one long and one short tusk. I followed silently in the rear of the men, 
through a thick thorny bush. I had a presentiment that we were near 
them, and took my gun from the Kaffir's hands ; and not three minutes 
afterward I saw, from the gesticulations of the Masaras, they had seen 
them.- The dogs were slipped, and all was quiet for some time, when I 
heard one bark, followed immediately by the trumpeting of a bull. I 
made the best of my way in the direction, when I was turned by a voice 
shouting, " Come here, Natoo," and made for him. 

I heard a shot behind me, turned at once, and caught sight of the 
retreating monster. The bush being uncommonly dense, I was fearful of 
losing him, and fired, striking him in the thick of the thigh, and he took 
up a position in a thicket, trumpeting and charging the dogs in all direc- 
tions, making a loud crashing. Unfortunately, the cap was driven into 
the nipple at the first shot, and I lost some time in trying to get it out, 
and broke the point of my knife, but I eventually succeeded with astrong 
needle which I had in my hat. There were five men with guns, but no 
one had ventured into the bush to give him a shot ; and the Kaffirs, no 
doubt, thought me afraid likewise ; but when I was sure of my gun, I 
rode in, taking care to have a clear passage for a speedy exit. When 
within about twenty-five yards, he threw up his trunk and. came direct 
toward me. 

The horse stood still as old Time, and I gave him a conical ball, five to 
the pound, backed by six drachms of fine powder, on the point of the 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 623 

shoulder-blade. Flesh and blood could not stand before such a driver ; 
and, staggering and stumbling forward a few yards, he pitched right on 
his head within fifteen yards of me ; then my brave followers immedi- 
ately rushed in and gave him a volley as he lay on his broadside, and it 
was all over with him. 

Though the other elephants could not have been far off, all hunting 

was over for that day, as the sight of so much fat meat was irresistible to 

the half-starved Masaras; and nothing I could offer would induce them to 

take up the trail of the other bulls, so they will live to fight another day, 

Larg-e Herd of Elephants. 

We crossed the river at dawn of day ; not, however, until I had paid a 
bag of powder and a bar of lead for the use of two old canoes, which, 
however, were indispensable to us. We took up the trail of a large herd 
of elephants, and followed it unremittingly till within two hours of sun- 
set, straight away from the river, to a thick grove of mapani-trees, the 
leaves of which very much resemble the beech, and are even now, in the 
depth of winter, green and luxuriant. Here we found a large herd of 
fifty or sixty, all cows and calves. They were feeding, but, on seeing us, 
they disappeared like magic; and when the dogs got among them, they 
spread in all directions. I shot, also, an old bull buffalo, and the Masa- 
ras and Makubas, though well wearied, made a night of it — that is, did 
not stop eating until morning; consequently, only two, that we sent for 
water, were able to work the next day. 

The next morning we found a troop of eleven or twelve bull elephants 
in a thick hack-thorn bush on the banks of the river. As they crashed 
away, I rode hard in their rear, shouting lustily, and singled out the 
largest bull. I rode close, and he cleared a path for me. He turned to 
see who had the audacity to ride so near, for the horse's nose touched 
him, when I gave him a bullet behind the shoulder, and cleared out of 
his path. In reloading I lost him, and, cantering on his trail, he very 
nearly caught me, as he had stopped and turned round just where the 
path turned suddenly and sharply to the right, and I was almost under 
his very trunk ere I saw him. He was lying in wait, and made a ter- 
rific charge, trumpeting furiously ; the horse was round like a top, and 
away I went, with both rowels deep in his flauks as I threw myself on 
his neck. It was a very near shave ; his trunk was over the horse's hind 
quarters. I went through bush that, in cool blood, I should have pro- 
nounced impenetrable, but did not come off scathless ; my poor hands 
are shockingly torn, and my trowsers, from the knee, literally in shreds, 
though made of goatskin. After giving the elephant two more bullets I 




(624) 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 625 

lost him. The dogs were frightened to death, and would not leave the 
ihorse's heels. 

Boat Cre^svs Drowned. 

The country all around appears to be a perfect flat, very unhealthy and 
■uninteresting, with a lot of rubbishy reeds at this end, but it is wooded 
to the banks on the other side, and most of the way round. I gather 
from the natives that it is a three days' ride round the lake, but that the 
itsetse render it impossible for horses. The natives are afraid to cross in 
their frail canoes, as when a wind rises the water is very rough. Three 
canoes were swamped not long since, and their crews drowned. Not 
far from the southern point, the road the wagons take to Walvish Bay, 
there is a high ridge of rocks, Lechulatebe's strong-hold in case of an 
•attack. These Kaffirs are always at war, cattle being the prime object. 
I could only get a very bad view of one end of the lake, but I must con- 
fess that I was disappointed in it. The chief went with me, and, by the 
aid of an interpreter, gave me all the information he could, and was very 
kind and obliging. 

He is not a bad fellow at heart, I think, but a dreadful beggar and 
very covetous. He appears to have no idea of being refused anything 
the fancies, gives you nothing in return, wants your things on his own 
terms, and asks outrageous prices tor his. He is young, active, an ele- 
iphant-hunter himself, a good shot, and possesses good guns. On our 
.return I swam the river, which is about 300 yards wide, and he invited 
me to dinner. We dined in the open air, and were attended' by the 
prettiest girls in the kraal, who knelt before us and held the dishes from 
which we ate. 

Kaffir Beauties. 

They wear no clothing but a skin around their loins ; their legs, arms, 
:necks, and waists are ornamented with beads of every variety, 
.and ivory, brass, and copper bracelets. Finer-made girls than some of 
the well-fed Kaffirs, I suppose, are not to be found. They have small 
:hands and feet, beautifully-rounded arms, delicate wrists and ankles ; 
their eyes and teeth unsurpassable, and they are lithe and supple as a 
willow wand. 

They say perfect happiness does not exist in this world, but I should 
;say a Kaffir chief comes nearer to it than any other mortal; his slightest 
wish is law ; he knows no contradiction ; he has the power of life and 
death in his hands at any moment, and can take any quantity of wives 
and put them away at pleasure ; he is waited upon like an infant, and 
•every wish, whim, and caprice is indulged in to the fullest extent; and 

40 




m 

o 



(6g6) 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. . 627 

he has ivory, feathers, and karosses brought to him from all quarters, 
which he can barter with the traders for every article of luxury. 

Our dinner consisted of roasted giraffe, swimming in fat and grease. 
I always do in Rome as Rome does — eat (if 1 can) whatever is set before 
me, and shut my eyes if I feel qualmish. Nothing approaches the parts 
most relished by the natives in richness of flavor, and racy, gamy taste. 
The Kaffirs know well the best parts of every animal, and laugh at our 
throwing them away. But enough; I enjoyed my dinner. Perhaps a 
person with a delicate stomach might have found fault with the means 
used to fasten on the lids of the different dishes ; but the native plan is 
an excellent one, as everything is kept warm, and nothing can boil over 
or escape. Everything was scrupulously clean ; and jackals' tails, 
waved in abundance by the many slaves in attendance, kept away the 
flies. 

Slirewcl Rascal. 

I afterward exchanged my hat with the captain for a pair of leather 
crackers, but had to give beads, knife, fork, and spoon into the bargain. 
The rascal had no conscience; and after plaguing me till I promised to 
give him some tea for the second time, for I had sent him about a pound 
on my arrival, he immediately dispatched a messenger for an immense 
earthenware jar, which would hold at least two chests, and was highly 
indignant at the pigmy appearance of the tea I put in it. He then 
plagued me for meal ; and when I offered to exchange with him for 
corn, provided he gave me two measures for one, he declared there was 
none in the state ; he lies like a trooper, and only laughs when you 
find him out. He appears to be very good-tempered, however ; but all 
Kaffirs have great self-command, and they rarely, if ever, come to blows. 

Continuing his account of exciting adventures of the chase, Baldwin 
says : To-day I have been successful in bringing to bay a splendid fat 
eland cow. Accompanied by January on old Snowdon, two of my 
men, and seven Bakalahari, we sallied forth, and soon found fresh trails, 
which the Kaffirs followed in the most indefatigable manner ; they led 
us in a regular circle. Though we maintained a dead silence, the elands 
must have got our wind, as we found from the trail they were off at full 
speed. January then took up the trail, holding on fast by the pommel 
with one hand, and kept it in the most marvellous manner at a canter, 
wherever the bush would permit of it, for three or four miles at least. I 
followed in his wake, my horse Ferus (fearless), who is in excellent con- 
dition, pulling hard. I should have called a halt, but the trail led home- 
ward. January still kept on at a canter through the thick bush. At 




(628) 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 620 

« 

length I got sight of three cows ; the rest of the party had done their 
duty, it was now my turn : I contented myself by keeping them in sight 
till we got into a much more open part, when I let Ferus make play, and 
we went at a slashing pace over everything. The elands led me in among 
the Kaffir pitfalls, and I steered my nag wherever the fence was thickest, 
as being safest, and he jumped like a stag, and in a very short brush 
singled out and ran right into the best cow, when I fired from the saddle. 

Ifarrow Escape. 

One morning I found five bull elephants, gave chase, and singled and 
drove out the largest, and gave him a couple of pills to make him quiet ; 
he shortly turned and stood at bay, about forty yards off, and then came 
on with a terrific charge. My newly-purchased horse, Kebon, which I 
v/as riding for the first time, stood stock still, and I intended to give the 
elephant my favorite shot in the chest, but at every attempt to raise the 
gun for the purpose of so doing my horse commenced tossing his head 
up and down, and entirely prevented me from taking aim. During my 
attempts to pacify and steady him, the bull charged, and I fired at ran- 
dom, and whether the ball whistled uncomfortably near the horse's ear 
or not I can't say, but he gave his head so sudden a jerk as to throw the 
near rein over on to the off side ; the curb-chain came undone, and the 
bit turned right round in his mouth. 

The huge monster was less than twenty yards off, ears erected like 
two enormous fans, and trumpeting furiously. Having no command 
whatever of my horse, I dug the long rowels in most savagely, when 
Kebon sprang straightforward for the brute, and I thought it was all up ; 
I leaned over on the off side as far as possible, and his trunk was within 
a few feet of me, as I shot close by him. 

I plied the rowels, and was brought again to a sudden stand by three 
trees, in a sort of triangle; a vigorous dig, and he got through, my right 
shoulder coming so violently in contact with one of the trees as almost 
to unhorse me, slewing my right arm behind my back, over my left hrp. 
I know not how I managed to stick to my gun, 14 lbs. weight, with my 
middle finger only hooked through the trigger-guard, my left hand right 
across my chest, holding by the end of the reins, which, most fortu- 
nately, I had in my hand when I fired, and in this fashion he went at a 
tearing gallop through a thick tangled bush and underwood mostly 
hack-thorns, over which my nag jumped like a buck. He was very 
nearly on his head three or four times, as the soil was very heavy, sandy, 
and full of holes. 

The monster was all this time close in my wake ; at length I got clear 



630 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



from him, and he turned and made off in the opposite direction at his 
best pace. As soon as I could pull up, which I managed after perform- 
ing three or four circles, I jumped off, righted my bridle, and went after 
him like the wind, as he had a long start, and I was afraid of losing him 
in thick bush. After giving him ten shots, and sustaining three more 
savage charges, the last a long and silent one, far from pleasant, as my 
horse had all the puff taken out of him, and he could only manage to keep 
his own before the brute, to my great satisfaction he at length fell, to rise 
no more. I had long been quite exhausted, and could not even put a 
cap on the nipple. One of my men turned up about an hour after; he 




AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 

said he fired all his powder away, giving his elephant sixteen bullets to 
no purpose ; but the horse looked quite fresh, and both barrels were 
loaded, and every man has a perfect right to form his own opinion as to 
the reason why and wherefore. 

Elephant hunting is the very hardest life a man can chalk out for him- 
self Two blank days, riding five hours at a foot's pace to a ravine, where 
the Masaras tell you they have drunk ; sleeping in the bush with nothing 
to eat; a drink of muddy water in the morning, out of a dirty tortoise- 
shell, which serves for breakfast, dinner, and supper; all day in the 
saddle, under a broiling sun, following after three half-starved Masaras in 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 631 

•greasy, tattered skins, who carry a little water, which is nauseous to a 
degree, and never seeing life the whole day. Two days like this, followed 
by two successful ones, is about what you may expect. 

Nothing more miserable and dirty can be conceived than a Masara 
encampment. It consists of temporary half-thatched sheds, and a few 
bushes stuck in here and there to break the wind, with half-putrid dried 
flesh, water vessels, and shreds of old skins hung up in the surrounding 
trees. My trusty after-rider brings two or three armfuls of grass, and 
makes my couch in the most eligible corner, with my saddle for a pillow, 
and here I court sleep till daybreak, lying close to a green wood fire, the 
smoke of which passes over you when you lie close to the ground, and 
(keeps off the mosquitoes. 

There is something quite overpowering in the deathlike stillness of the 
forest at night — a brilliant sky, innumerable stars, bright and twinkling, 
dusky figures in all possible attitudes lying around, the munching of our 
faithful horses, which are tied to trees all night, and frequently the jackal's 
cry, the hyena's howl, the occasional low growl of a lion, or the heavy tramp 
and crash in the bush of a herd of elephants, with a scream which can 
be heard at an immense distance. This is the way our nights are usually 
passed in the bush, and the most light-hearted fellow in the world, when 
all alone for months, must have occasional fits of despondency. 

A Famous Bird. 

Full of thorns and bruises, and half dead from thirst, I off-saddled 
Kebon, knee-haltered him, and then lay under the shade of a tree, having 
not the most remote idea as to my whereabouts, shouting and firing 
blank powder to bring up the Masaras. To add, if possible, to the many 
mishaps, my horse had strayed, and I had to follow his trail, and did not 
overtake him for nearly a mile, and then I was obliged to retrace my own 
footsteps, which was not so easy. I had not long returned when one of 
my men turned up, and he led the way back at a trot on foot, distancing 
all the Masaras, and just at sunset got to the wagon, where I first got a 
drink. Such days as these are rather more than sport. 

I was much amused by watching the tickbirds trying to alarm an old 
white rhinoceros that we were approaching from under the wind, quite 
ignorant of his danger. They ran into his ears and fluttered about his 
■eyes, keeping up an incessant chirping, but he would not be warned till 
we got above wind, when he elevated head and tail, snuffed, trotted, and 
snorted, and went away in grand style at a swinging trot". We had better 
game in view ; but to-night I am going to watch the water, as the moon 
is high, and then he must be more wary. My fellows have just made 



632 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

a hole at the edge of the water, as game is very scarce, and we are hard* 
up for meat. 

My poor dog Gyp, I grieve to say, was taken by a tiger. I had rid- 
den forward to water, and she came after me. It was night, and a native 
heard the scuffle, and poor Gyp's last breath, which left her carcase, not 
in the shape of a yell, but rather of a fierce angry whine that she could 
not gripe the brute in return. She was the gamest of the game, and had' 
numberless escapes, wonderful, lucky, or providential, whatever you 
like to call them. Except my perfect Juno, I had sooner the fate had 
happened to any other of the pack. 

Coin'bat wltli Tigers. 

Baldwin does not give any extended account of hunting the tiger, but 
we are able to present a spirited account from a traveller of an exciting^ 
tiger hunt, which took place in India. 

At break of day, he says, we set out in an imposing array. Twelve- 
elephants, brilliantly trapped, bore the rajah, the principal officers of his 
suite, and your humble servant, lying, like the Romans at their feasts, 
on our backs, under the howdahs. Beside us lay several good rifles, 
and behind each of us, his eyes bandaged, a guepard, or hunting tiger.. 
This curious animal, half-tiger, half-leopard, is famous for his extraordi- 
nary eyesight, his speed in running, and his courage in attack. At the same 
time he is a thoroughly good-natured and submissive companion, and 
makes a capital hunter besides. 

There were some hundred men in the party, besides porters, servants, 
and cooks, and we journeyed by short stages in really royal style. No- 
one ever complains of the sleepy slowness of an elephant's gait. You 
enjoy the scenery, you are rocked by his gentle movement into the- 
happiest frame of mind, and you "get there." 

After three days of this ideal travelling, one of our advance couriers came 
in to say that a tiger was reported in the neighborhood of one of the 
near villages, and we all prepared for an exciting day. I had my rifles 
cleaned and my ammunition and knives inspected, and resolved to give 
a good account of myself We found that the tiger carried off daily a 
bull from the fields-, and escaped with it into a densely grown marsh a few 
miles away. At least such, was the story, if we chose to believe it. 
Exciting Events Ahead. 

Hardly had we reached the locality before the guepards gave unequi- 
vocal signs that they detected the presence of our game. Armed with 
spears, the men began to beat the bushes, much as if they were simply 
after hares. Still, as they did not seem to mind the danger, I could not 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 



633; 



see why I should worry about them, though I sat ready with gun in rest 
on my elephant's back. 

The plan was successful ; for two enormous tigers bounded out of the 
high underbrush like young cats. Our men's cries and the general hub- 
bub confused them and made them lose their heads, and they ran back 




A PERILOUS POSITION. 



and forth without any plan or method. Suddenly one of them sprang at: 
my elephant, with wild fury, as is their favorite method of attack. I 
came to the rescue with my rifle, and hurled the brute upon the ground, 
and the elephant placed his ponderous feet, one on its flanks'and one on 
its head ! I felt a violent jerk and shock, and heard the cracking of bones 



'634 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

like the sound of a tree broken by the force of the tempest ; and I saw 

the beast flattened under the weight of the massive pachyderm. 

The latter, proud of his deed, never lost his dignity or temper for an 

instant, and I showered caresses and sugar upon him in reward for his 

prompt courage. Meanwhile the other tiger had not remained inactive. 

He had succeeded in .bringing down a young elephant, on which was 

mounted a son of the rajah, now on his first hunt ; the latter, however, 

had the good sense to desert his mount, and leave the poor thing to 

its fate. 

Desperate Battle. 

Immediately we all let loose our guepards, which fell upon the prey 
with their sharp teeth and indomitable courage. The fight became 
general ; the wounded tiger held its own against the numerous foe, put- 
ting several hors du combat, laying them open with its fearful claws, or 
meeting its fangs in their throats. The struggle was intense, and the 
rajah's enjoyment of it was too, for he would not let me end it with a shot 
from my good rifle. After some minutes of this kind of thing he gave 
his men a signal, and they surrounded the combatants and with their 
spears put an end to the tiger, and drew off the limping guepards. 

The foregoing narrative will serve to show what startling risks are run 
by hunters in the Tropics. Baldwin's experiences are evidence of this, 
and we again quote from his thrilling account. 

I hardly know, he says, what I have done the last fortnight ; I have 
been five consecutive days in the saddle without finding elephants ; I am 
now three days on my road back again — a weary, long journey, without 
water so far, and I shall be obliged to wait for rain before I can get out, 
besides which the ravines are now full of a poisonous herb, which is cer- 
tain death in a few hours to oxen, so that we are obliged to be most 
cautious. Painter, one of my horses, was left behind yesterday for dead; 
thirst and the intense heat of the sun had, to all appearance, finished 
him ; but, to my amazement, he turned up again this morning, having 
found his way in the night to our old place. 

Chased by an Infuriated Buffalo. 

The best of my stud, Ferus, yesterday got desparately staked in the 
breast. A wounded buffalo, which I was trying to drive, charged me 
most savagely, and none other but Ferus could have brought me safely 
out. It was a near thing for about one hundred yards, and when she 
was not two yards from my horse's tail, taking advantage of an opening 
in the bush,' I wheeled half round in the saddle, and gave her a bullet 
through her right ear and grazed the top of her back, without, however. 




(635) 



636 Vv'ONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

doing her any harm ; but she shortly gave up the chase, when T 
reloaded, dismounted, and brought her down. It was among hack- 
thorns, and my clothes were completely torn off my body. We had not: 
a bite of anything at all at the wagon, and no near probability of getting 
anything, therefore I was rash, as a buffalo is a beast you cannot drive. 

The nipple of my gun broke short off in the worm the other day, and 
I tried every means to get it out for some time without effect, only mak- 
ing matters worse by breaking a plug short off that I had been harden- 
ing and shaping to fit all day. At last I made a drill bore, and suc- 
ceeded beyond my most sanguine expectations, and she is now none the 
worse. We are obliged to load heavily for South African game ; six- 
drachms are my smallest dose, and my powder this year is excellent. 

I think it hardly possible for the country to be or look worse than- 
now, and my poor oxen and horses have* fallen off fearfully. All the- 
water-courses are dried up, and we only get a small quantity of water at 
the fountains after hard digging, and the little grass there is terribly dry.. 
In the early mornings, evenings, and night, it is so cold that there is ice 
in all the water-vessels, while the days are intensely hot ; from ten to 
four it is hardly possible to travel ; we sometimes have high and often 
hot winds ; game of all sorts is as thin as deal boards, and the fare, con- 
sequently, very indifferent. 

Cliase of the Giraffe. 

Let me give an account of a day's adventure with giraffes. 

I took a cup of coffee and a biscuit, and .saddled up. I rode old Bryan,, 
a tall, narrow-built, ewe-necked, remarkably long, blue-skimmel horse, 
resembling very much in appearance the animal we went to hunt, but with. 
a great depth of shoulder and breadth of chest, and good girth, and some- 
capital points about him, though an ungainly, ugly brute, and very heavy 
in hand, with a tender mouth. We shortly met six Kaffirs, Avho told, 
us they had seen fresh trail of a troop of giraffes, and turned back to 
show us. We followed the trail some four miles, through thorns, and 
very stony and bad travelling, ascending the different heights to try to 
see them, but always following the trail as fast as the Kaffirs could keep 
up. I saw them first, full 500 yards off, seven or eight of them, and, on 
whistling for Swartz, one of my men, they immediately took right away, 
with a tremendous start. 

We made good play, at a swinging gallop, right through bush and; 
stones, and, after a long burst, I came within twenty yards of them, when. 
Bryan stopped in fear and trembling of the huge unwieldy brutefe. 1 
plied him sharply with the spurs, and got him once more under way,, 




(637) 



638 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

keeping above the wind, as the giraffes have a strong effluvia, which 
Frighten horses unused to them. We came out on the clearing, Swartz- 
forty or fifty yards in advance of me, and as far behind the giraffes. The 
sight of the other horse gave Bryan confidence, and he bounded away in. 
good style, and was alongside instantly, when they again dashed 
into thick bush ; here Swartz turned out a cow, the very one I had set 
my mind on, and I at once took after a large bull. Now he bounded away 
with his tail screwed round like a corkscrew, and going in one bound as 
far as I went in three. 

" He Went Bang into a Busli.V 

Bryan crashed through everything, and I lost my hat and tore 
my hands, arms, and shirt to pieces. At length 1 got nearly 
alongside him, and fired, hitting him high in the neck, and taking no effect 
whatever on him. Here I got a pull on Bryan and managed to reload^ 
still going on at a smart gallop, and once more got alongside, and, in 
trying to pull up to dismount, he went bang into a bush, which brought' 
him up short, and he went to back out, the giraffe getting lOO yards in 
advance. I soon made up the lost ground, and headed him, endeavoring 
to turn him, but he slewed round like a vessel in full sail, bearing down 
almost on the top of me, with his huge fore legs as high in the air as the 
horse's back. I had lots of chances to dismount, but had no command 
of my nag ; his mouth was dead ; but not a sign of flagging about him. 
I steered him close alongside on the near side, held out my gun in one 
hand, within two yards of the giraffe's shoulder, and fired. The gun shot 
over my head, half breaking my middle finger, and down came the 
giraffe, with a tremendous crash, with his shoulder smashed to atoms. 
I must have had a heavy charge of powder in, as I loaded at random. 

Bryan was as still as a post instantly, and I lost not a moment in off- 
saddling him ere I inspected my giraffe, and then put the saddle-cloth 
over my bare head, as the sun was intensely hot. I must have run nearly 
five miles through hack-thorns and stones of all sizes, as straight as the 
crow flies. Swartz killed his cow, about a mile back, with one shot, 
about one hundred yards off. We cut off his mane and tail as a trophy, 
and the tongue and marrow-bone for immediate use ; and Swartz and 
John coming up, we went to his giraffe, which was the fattest, for meat. 
The Kaffirs were there, and I offered them some beads to find my 
hat. 

I dispatched all the Kaffirs and dogs for meat early in the morning, as 
it was late when we got back the previous night. The meat is really 
tender and good. I followed my giraffe about twenty yards in the rear 



A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER. 



639- 



for a mile at least, the stones rattling past my head occasionally. When- 
ever the ground favored, and I made a spurt, he did the same, appearing- 
to have no end of bottom ; and Bryan could not come up with him, 
though he strained every nerve, and he has a long, swinging gallop, and 
leaves the ground fast behind him. 

Till within the last century, the very existence of this magnificent 
animal was doubted by civilized peoples — at least, it was no more believed 
in than the unicorn. Who can wonder at the incredulity of the people ? 
I have seen an animal, said a traveller, with the skin of a leopard, the 
head of a deer, a neck graceful as the swan's ; so tall, that if three tall 
men should stand on each other's shoulders, the topmost one could 




A RACE FOR LIFE. 

scarcely reach its forehead ; and so timid and gentle that the merest 
puppy by its bark could compel the enormous creature to its utmost 
speed, which excels that of the hare or greyhound ! 

This was all the traveller knew of the giraffe, and he told it, and when 
folks heard or read, they winked, wagged their heads, as do knowing 
people while exercising their leading faculty, and flatly refused to be 
" gulled " by any such " traveller's tale." Suppose, however, the traveller 
had known as much about the giraffe as we know, and related it? 
Suppose, in addition to the particulars respecting the animal's shape and 
size, the traveller had told our great grandfathers that the tongue of the 
giraffe was such a wonderful instrument that, protruded a foot from the 



640 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

imouth, it was used as a grasper, a feeler, and an organ of taste ; that the 
giraffe's tongue was what in many respects the elephant's proboscis is to 
that ponderous animal ? That the giraffe's nostrils, oblique and narrow, 
were defended even to their margins by strong hairs, and surrounded by 
muscular fibres, by which they can be hermetically sealed, effectually 
ypreventing the entrance of the fine sand which the suffocating storms of 
the desert raise in such clouds that man, with all the appliances sug- 
gested by his invention, must flee from or die ? That the giraffe's beau- 
tiful eyes, lustrous and prominent, were so situated that he could, without 
moving his head, sweep the whole circle of the horizon on all sides, 
behind, before, every way, so that for any enemy to approach unawares 
^kvas impossible ? 

I much question, if the traveller had related these wonders to our 
great grandfather — who was a stout-headed man and not to be trifled 
with — whether he would not have found himself behind a bedlam-grating 
in a very short time. 

Besides these mentioned, the giraffe possesses other features equally 
'peculiar. The first impression one receives on viewing the animal is, 
that its fore-legs are considerably longer than its hinder ones. This, 
however, is illusory. The walk of the giraffe is not majestic, the neck 
-Stretched in a line with its back giving it an awkward appearance. 
When, however, the animal commences to run, all symptoms of awkward- 
ness vanish, though its progression is somewhat peculiar. The hind-legs 
are lifted alternately with the fore, and are carried outside of and far 
beyond them; while the long black tail, tufted at the end like a 
buffalo's, is curled above the back, and moves pendulum fashion exactly 
as the neck moves, giving the creature the appearance of a curious and 
nicely-adjusted piece of machinery. 

Eleg-ant Roan Antelope. 

Soon after my adventure with the giraffes I fell in with a single roan 
•antelope, and cannot deny myself the pleasure of giving a full account of 
the chase froni first to last, as it will long live in my remembrance. I 
:saw him first coming along at a swinging gallop, evidently startled by 
something, and endeavored to cut him off, galloping hard and keeping a 
tree between us. I got within lOO yards, jumped off, and missed him 
like a man going broadside past me ; swallowed my disgust as well as I 
• could, reloaded, and gave chase. 

A stern chase is always a long one, and at the end of about three 
miles I could not perceive I had gained a yard on him. The bush get- 
ting thicker, I rode lOO yards wide of him, hoping I might gain ground 



f t. 










GIRAFFES FLEEING FROM A HUNTER. 



41 



(641) 



642 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

on him unperceived, and as he burst once more into the clearing I had 
bettered my position fully lOO yards, which he perceived, and put on the 
steam once more, and I was just pulling up in despair, when I saw his 
mouth open, and heard his breath coming thick and fast on the wind. 
He was evidently much blown, but my good nag had likewise nearly all 
the putf taken out of him. The ground being frightfully stony, he had 
to change his legs, alter his stride, and hop about like peas on a platter ; 
still I had faint hopes, if I was favored by the ground, I might get a long 
shot at him. I nursed my nag to the best of my judgment, roweling 
him well, but holding him fast by the head, and endeavoring still to keep 
a spurt in him whenever the ground favored, and in this manner I main- 
tained my distance, about 200 yards behind the antelope, which I now 
perceived to be shortening his stroke as he was nearing the steep bank. 
of a dry river. 

Crisis of Fate. 

Now or never ! I spurred my horse, and he put on a capital spurt 
and, as he is an admirably-trained shooting horse, I could rely on his 
pulling up in ten yards, and I never checked him till within twenty yards 
of the bank. The magnificent old buck seemed to know, by instinct, that, 
this was the crisis of his fate, and tore away on the opposite bank. harder 
than ever, making the stones clatter and fly behind him. In the twink- 
ling of an eye I stood alongside of my nag, steadied myself, gave one 
deep-drawn breath, planted my left foot firmly in front, raised my gun, 
and fired the moment I got the ivory sight to bear upon him, making an 
admirable shot. 

Not long after this I had a glorious day on my horse Jack. He 
carried me well up to a troop of roan antelopes, when my gun, unfortu- 
nately, missed fire. Saw a splendid old bull harrisbuck, but lost sight of 
him in trying to get below the wind, and never saw him again. Rode 
far, climbing to the top of the hills ; at length saw about twenty-two 
harrisbucks ; got below the wind and within 300 yards, when they took 
the alarm. I had a very long chase of five miles, at least. The ground 
being so bad, and my horse blind, I could only go steadily; at length, 
got them at advantage, and put Jack's powers to the test. 

He galloped strong and well, and as they were thundering down a pass 
between two mountains, through a dry ravine, I got within three lengths 
of the hindmost buck. The pace was tremendoiis. One magnificent 
old bull I had set my heart on, and was close to him. Jack drew up 
short just on the brink of the ravine, and, in my hurry to jump off, I got 
my foot fast in the stirrup. I had my back to the bucks, and when I had 




(643) 



644 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

extricated my foot I had lost my bull, I fired at a large black and tan 
cow, and either missed her altogether or gave her a bad shot. 
, " It was Fine Work at Times." 

In the middle of the chase I almost jumped into an ostrich nest, but I 
could not think about eggs then. On returning to the wagons I heard 
my horse Bryan was very sick ; he had wandered away from the wagons, 
and we lost him, though I followed the trail till dark, I luckily heard 
from two Kaffirs that they had seen a horse's trail on the path going back 
at the break of day. Inyous, one of my party, and myself started in the 
direction the Kaffirs told us, and, thinking it not improbable we might 
be away three or four days, I put a cap, box of salt, and a dry eland's 
tongue in my pocket, and Iiiyous carried two pounds of beads. On 
finding the trail eighteen hours gone, I pressed two Kaffirs from a kraal 
near by into the service. It was fine work, at times, tracking him out. 
We had many checks, and all spread out and made our casts in a most 
systematic style, your humble servant hitting off the trail three times,- 
but Inyous and one Bushman Kaffir did the most of the hunting. 

Once I had all but given him up on flinty, rocky ground: we cast 
around in every direction for an hour and a half to no purpose, and fol- 
lowed the trail for more than 300 yards on our hands and knees, the 
faintest imaginable track being all we had t-o guide us — a small stone dis- 
placed or a blade of grass cut off; so we kept on till we again got to 
sandy ground, when we took up the running four miles an hour, and 
about midday we found him. I need not say how rejoiced I was to see 

him. 

Tlie Plumed Ostrich. 

Respecting the degree of intelligence displayed by the wild ostrich, 
the opinions of travellers are at variance, some ascribing to it the most 
complete stupidity, and others giving it credit for unusual vivacity and 
cunning. Livingstone evidently inclines to the former opinion. He 
says, " It is generally seen feeding on some quiet spot wdiere no one can 
approach him without being detected by his wary eye. As the wagon 
moves along far to the windward, he thinks it is intending to circumvent 
hini, so he rushes up a mile or so from the leeward, and so near to the 
front oxen that one sometimes gets a shot at the silly bird. When he 
begins to run, all the game in sight follow his example. I have seen 
seen this folly taken advantage of when he was quietly feeding in a val- 
ley open at both ends. A number of men would commence running as 
if to cut off his retreat from the end through which the wind came, and 
although he had the whole country, hundreds of miles, before him by 




(645) 



646 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

going to the other end, on he madly rushed to get past the men, and so 
was speared. He never swerves from the course he once adopts, but 
only increases his speed." 

In taking the eggs, the natives, if they wish to continue drawing on 
the nest, are obliged to use considerable caution. It is common enough, 
even when the hatching period is close at hand, for the whole of the 
proprietors of a nest to wander away from it in search of food, a circum- 
stance that has doubtless given ground for the erroneous supposition 
that the bird in question leaves her eggs in the sand, trusting to the sun 
for their vivification. When the native finds a nest of eggs so aband- 
oned, he procures a long stick and rakes them out all but one or two ; if 
this is managed cleverly, and the wind has been favorable, the bereaved 
bird will neither scent the thief nor be aware of her loss, but go on lay- 
ing for months, from June to October, supplying the Bushman with new- 
laid eggs with the precision and regularity of the hens of our own farms 
and homesteads 

Ingenious Method for Getting TTater. 

Even the shell of the ostrich egg is an item of the utmost importance 
in the domestic economy of the wandering Bushman. It provides him 
with plates and dishes and drinking-cups, and, more important still, with 
a convenient vessel in which to carry that first essential to existence, 
water, across the vast and thirsty plains of Africa. The singular and 
ingenious method of collecting water into these shells from the reedy 
and shallow pools is thus graphically described by Dr. Livingstone: 

" The constant dread of visits from strange tribes causes' the Bat- 
kalahari to choose their residence far from water, and they not unfre- 
quently hide their supplies by filling the pits with sand and making a fire 
over the spot. When they wish to draw water for use the women come 
with twenty or thirty of their water-vessels in a bag or net on their 
backs. The water-vessels consist of ostrich egg-shells, with a hole in 
the end of each, such as would admit one's finger. The women tie a 
bunch of grass to one end of a reed about two feet long, and insert it in a 
hole as deep as the arm will reach ; then ram down the wet sand firmly 
round it. Then applying the mouth to the thin end of the reed they 
form a vacuum in the grass beneath, in which the water collects, and in a 
short time rises into the mouth. An egg-shell is placeci on the ground 
alongside the reed, some inches below the mouth of the sucker. A straw 
guides the water into the hole of the vessel as she draws mouthful after 
mouthful from below. The water is made to pass along the outside, not 
through the straw. 




C647) 



648 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

"An intelligent Bakwain related to me how the Bushmen effectually 
baulked a party of his tribe which lighted on their village in a state of 
burning thirst. Believing, as he said, that nothing human could subsist 
without water, they demanded some, but were coolly told by these 
Bushmen that they had none, and never drank any. Expecting to find 
them out, they resolved to watch them night and day. They persevered 
for some days, thinking that at last the water must come forth; but, not- 
withstanding their watchfulness, kept alive by most tormenting thirst, the 
Bakwains were compelled to exclaim, ' Yak ! yak ! these are not men ; let 
us go.' Probably the Bushmen had been subsisting on a store hidden 
underground, which had eluded the vigilance of their visitors." 

Ostrich Cliicks. 

The newly-hatched chicks are about as large as pullets, and as soon 
as they escape from the shell are able to walk about and follow their 
parents. The cock-bird, it seems, is just as able and certainly as willing to 
take charge of his children as the hen. Dr. Livingstone says, " I have sev- 
eral times seen newly-hatched young in the charge of the cock, who made 
a very good attempt at appearing lame in the plover fashion, in order to 
draw off the attention of pursuers. The young squat down and remain 
immovable when too small to run far, but attain a wonderful degree of 
speed when about the size of common fowls. The color of the ostrich 
chick is a blending of gray and white, and harmonizes admirably with 
the color of the plains it is in the habit of traversing. Its external cover- 
ing at this stage of its existence is neither down nor feathers, but a sub- 
stance more resembling the bristles of the hedgehog spread scantily 
over its body." 

Should a Bushman discover a nest when a long distance from home, 
he is of course desirous of securing the precious eggs; but how is he to 
carry them ? Pockets he has not, he is equally barren of pocket-hand- 
kerchief, and he does not invariably wear either a hat or a cap. Under 
such circumstances, dear reader, you or I would just take one in each 
hand and one under each arm, and walk off, regretting that we were 
unable to secure any more. But the Bushman has a " dodge " almost as 
ingenious as it is unscrupulous. He takes off his trowsers, tears a strip 
off the waistband, secures the bottom of each leg therewith, and is at 
once provided with a commodious double bag which he fills with eggs, 
and contentedly trots home with his bare legs scorching in the sun. The 
Bushman has implicit confidence in powdered ostrich egg-shell as a pre- 
ventive of eye diseases, and should his cattle be afflicted with strangury- 
he will grind up a bit of the potent shell, mix it with vinegar, pour it 




(649) 



>650 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

down the throat of the ox, and next morning the brute is sound again — 
at least, so says the Bushman. 

Although there are no authenticated instances on record of the ostrich 
ever having eaten so indigestible a thing as a " great horse-shoe," the 
obtuseness of taste displayed by the giant bird is very remarkable. 
Methuen in his " Life in the Wilderness," when speaking of a female 
ostrich that came under'his immediate attention, says : " One day a Mus- 
covy duck brought a promising brood of ducklings into the world, and 
with maternal pride conducted them forth into the yard. Up with 
solemn and measured strides marched the ostrich, and, wearing the most 
■mild, benignant cast of face, swallowed them all one after another like so 
many oysters, regarding the indignant hissings and bristling plumage 
of the hapless mother with stoical indifference." 

Although it has always been known that the ostrich could be domesti- 
cated, it was not until within a comparatively recent period that this bird 
was supposed to possess any utility. Now the world is wearing ostrich 
feathers. These, which certainly are very graceful and attractive, are 
sold in all the great markets of the world, and are worn very extensively. 
'Of course there is a fashion in feathers as there is in everything else, and 
at certain periods there is a greater demand for ostrich plumes than at 
others. 

An attempt has been made in California to domesticate the ostrich, 
and on a limited scale there are farms on the Pacific coast for the pur- 
pose of raising ostriches with a view to obtaining their feathers. These 
farms have been, so far, attended with a good degree of success. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 

Creat Gorilla Hunter — Du Chaillu in the Jungles — First Gorilla Captured by a 
White Man — Formidable Monster — Ghastly Charms — Battle with a Bull — Hunter 
Tossed on Sharp Horns — The Camma Tribe — A very Sick Man — Infernal-looking 
Doctor — Snake Bones and Little Bells — Extraordinary Performance to Find the 
Sorcerer — Huge Fraud — Andersson in Africa — Guides Lose Their Way — Lives of 
the Whole Party at Stake — A Search for Water in All Directions — Necessity of 
Returning Without Delay — Two Men Exploring the Country for Water Left Be- 
hind — Suffering of Men and Animals from Thirst — Grand and Appalling Confla- 
gration — Magnificent Spectacle — Cattle One Hundred and Fifty Hours Without a 
Single Drop of Water — Troop of Elephants — A Watch by Night — Wild Animals at 
a Water Course— Battle Between a Lion and Lion Hunter — Dogs and Natives — 
Exciting Hunting Scene — One Hundred Natives in the Field — Cameron in the 
Dark Continent — Illustrious Explorer — Expedition from Sea to Sea — Important 
Discoveries — Agreement Between African Explorers— Stanley's Fame Assured. 

PAUL B. DU CHAILLU has made himself famous, not only by 
his travels extending into new and hitherto unknown regions, but 
also by his adventures with the animals of the Tropics. Espec- 
ially are we indebted to Du Chaillu for his graphic account of the 
gorilla, and for the captures he made at the risk of his own life and the 
lives of those who shared his exploits. This remarkable animal has 
been made known to the world mainly by the thrilling accounts of Du 
Chaillu. 

The following is Du Chaillu's narrative of the capture of his first 
gorilla : 

Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence which made a 
iieavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with 
the tremendous barking roar of the gorilla. 

Then the underbrush swayed rapidly just ahead, and presently before 
us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone through the jungle on 
ihis all-fours ; but when he saw our party he erected himself and looked 
us boldly in the face. He stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a 
sight I think never to forget. Nearly six feet high, at least so ap- 
pearing, with immense body, huge chest, and great muscular arms, with 
iiercely- glaring large deep gray eyes, and a hellish expression of face, 
•which seemed to me like some nightmare vision : thus stood before us 
sjthis king of the African forests. 

(651) 



652 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

He was not afraid of us. He stood there, and beat his breast with his^ 
huge fists till it resounded like an immense bass-drum, which is their 
mode of offering defiance : meantime giving vent to roar after roar. 

The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in 
these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, 
then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the 
roll of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have sometimes been 
tempted to take it where I did not see the animal. So deep is it that it 
seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than from the deep 
chest and vast paunch. 

A Forinidal)le Monster. 

His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motionless on the defen- 
sive, and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead began to 
twitch rapidly up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as he 
again sent forth a thunderous roar. And now truly he reminded me of 
nothing but some hellish dream creature — a being of that hideous order, 
half man, half beast, which we find pictured by old artists in some repre- 
sentations of the infernal regions. He advanced a few steps — then 
stopped to utter that hideous roar again — advanced again, and finally 
stopped when at a distance of about six yards from us. And here, as he 
began another of his roars and beating his breast in rage, we fired and 
killed him. 

With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and yet was- 
full of brutishness, it fell forward on its face. The body shook convul- 
sively for a few minutes, the limbs moved about in a struggling way, 
and then all was quiet-^-death had done its work, and I had leisure to 
examine the huge body. It proved to be five feet eight inches high, and 
the muscular development of the arms and breast showed what immense 
strength it had possessed. 

My men, though rejoicing at our luck, immediately began to quarrel, 
about the apportionment of the meat — for they really eat this creature. 
I saw that we should come to blows presently if I did not interfere, and 
therefore said I should myself give each man his share, which satisfied 
all. As we were too tired to return to our camp of last night, we deter- 
mined to camp here on the spot, and accordingly soon had some shel- 
ters erected and dinner going on. Luckily, one of the fellows shot a 
deer just as we began to camp, and on its meat I feasted while my men 
ate gorilla. 

I noticed that they very carefully saved the brain, and was told that 
charms were made of this— charms of two kinds. Prepared in one way,. 




TERRIBLE COMBAT WITH A GORILLA. 



(653) 



654 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the charm gave the wearer a strong hand for the hunt, and in another it 
gave him success with women. This evening we had again gorilla sto- 
ries — but all to the same point already mentioned, that there are gorillas 
inhabited by human spirits. 

The young athletic Negroes, in their ivory hunts, well know the hab- 
its of the gorilla. He does not, like the lion, sullenly retreat on seeing 
them, but swings himself rapidly down to the lower branches, courting 
the conflict, and clutches at the foremost of his enemies. The hideous 
aspect of his visage, his green eyes with their glaring fire, his open 
mouth and fierce-looking teeth,*the savage hand-like claws which form 
the end of his lower extremities, all render him an object of terror. When 
he is pursued, as he is sometimes by daring natives who are his natural 
enemies, he will defend himself with the utmost courage, and has been 
known to attack his foes with indescribable fury. 

Continuing his account of the adventures of the chase, Du Chaillu 
narrates what happened to one of his men. It is a wonder the poor 
native did not lose his life. 

Hiinter Tossed by a Bull. 

I started out early to try and get a shot at some buffalo which were 
said to be in the prairie back of the town. Ifouta, a hunter, accompanied 
me, and met with an accident through losing his presence of mind. We 
had been out about an hour, when we came upon a bull feeding in the 
midst of a little prairie surrounded by a wood which made our approach 
easy. Ifouta walked around opposite to where I lay in wait, that if the 

* 

animal took alarm at him it might fly toward me ; and then began to 
crawl, in the hunter fashion, through the grass toward his prey. All 
went well till he came near enough for a shot. Just then, unluckily, the 
bull saw him. Ifouta immediately fired. The gun made a long fire, and 
he only wounded the beast, which, quite infuriated, as it often is at the 
attack of hunters, immediately rushed upon him. 

It was now that poor Ifouta lost his presence of mind. In such cases, 
which are continually happening to those who hunt, the cue of the hun- 
ter is to remain perfectly quiet till the beast is within a jump of him, then 
to step nimbly to one side and let it rush past. But Ifouta got up 
and ran. 

Of course, in a moment the bull had him on his horns. It tossed 
him high into the air once, twice, thrice, ere I could run up, and, 
by my shouts, draw it^ fury to myself Then it came rushing at me. 
But my guns do not hesitate, and, as I had a fair shot, I killed it 
without trouble. 




TiV""'n^iii7' 



(655) 



'656 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Ifouta proved to be considerably bruised, but, on the whole, more 
-scared than hurt ; and when I had washed him off in a creek near by, he 
was able to walk home. 

When Du Chaillu was among the tribe called Camma, he had a curi- 
ous experience with a doctor who was celebrated for detecting evil spir- 
its and healing the sick. He says : 

Ishungui, the man who had faithfully taken care of my house, lay at 
death's door. He had gone out on a fishing excursion, caught cold, and 
had now a lung fever. I knew when I saw him that he must die, and 
tried to prepare his mind for the change. But his friends by no means 
gave him up. They sent for a distinguished doctor, and under his aus- 
pices began the infernal din with which they seek to cure a dying 
man. 

Iiifernal Liooking' Doctor. 

The Camma theory of disease is that Okamboo (the devil) has got 
into the sick man. Now this devil is only to be driven out with noise, 
and accordingly they surround the sick man and beat drums and kettles 
close to his head ; fire off guns close to his ears ; sing, shout, and dance 
all they can. This lasts till the poor fellow either dies or is better — 
unless the operators become tired out first, for the Camma doctors either 
kill or cure. 

• Ishungui died. He left no property, and his brother buried him with- 
out a coffin in a grave in the sand, so shallow that, when I chanced upon 
it some days after, I saw that the wild beasts had been there and eaten 
the corpse. The mourning lasted but six days ; and, as there were no 
wives or property, so there was no feast. The relatives of the deceased 
slept one night in his house, as a mark of respect ; and then all that 
remained was to discover the person who had bewitched the dead man. 
For that a young man, generally healthy, should die so suddenly in 
course of nature was by no means to be believed. 

A canoe had been dispatched up to the lake to bring down a great 
doctor. They brought one of the -chief's sons, a great rascal, who had 
been foremost in selling me an idol, and who was an evident cheat. 
When all was ready for the trial, I went down to look at the doctor, who 
looked literally " like the devil." I never saw a more ghastly object. 
He had on a high head-dress of black feathers. His eyelids were painted 
red, and a red stripe, from the nose upward, divided his forehead in two 
parts. Another red stripe passed round his head. The face was painted 
white, and on each side of the mouth were two round red spots. About 
liis neck hung a necklace of grass and also a cord, which held a box 



|||i|ji!|il!JlP||l|||l!i||l]|ll|!!|!iil||ll!||:i;'j!|^ 






'im 






:r: 






<i!llili!il''li'iilHi!llIi 
111 



'. 1! 



42 



(657) 



658 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

against his breast. This little box is sacred, and contains spirits. A. 
number of strips of leopard and other skins crossed his breast and were- 
exposed about his person ; and all these were charmed, and had charms 
attached to them. From each shoulder down to his hands was a white 
stripe, and one hand was painted quite white. To complete this horrible 
array, he wore a string of little bells around his body. 

A Hug-e Fraud. 

He sat on a box or stool, before which stood another box containing 
charms. On this stood a looking-glass, beside which lay a buffalo-horn 
containing some black powder., and said, in addition, to be the refuge of 
many spirits. He had a little basket of snake-bones, which he shook 
frequently during his incantations ; as also several skins, to which little 
bells were attached. Near by stood a fellow beating a board with two 
sticks. All the people of the village gathered about this couple, who,, 
after continuing their incantations for quite a while, at last came to the 
climax. A native was told to call over the names of persons in the vil- 
lage, in order that the doctor might ascertain if any one of those named 
did the sorcery. As each name was called the old cheat looked in the 
glass to see the result. 

During the whole operation I stood near him, which seemed to trouble 
him greatly. At last, after all the names were called, the doctor declared, 
that he could not find any " witch-man," but that an evil spirit dwelt in 
the village, and many people would die if they continued there. I have 
a suspicion that this final judgment with which the incantations broke up 
was a piece of revenge upon me. I had no idea till next day how seri- 
ously the words of one of these Ouganga doctors is taken. 

The next morning all was excitement. The people were scared : they 
said their chief was not willing to have them live longer here ; that he 
would kill them, etc. Then began, the removal of all kinds of property 
and the tearing down of houses; and by nightfall I was actually left alone 
in my house with my boys, both of whom were anxious to be off. 
Adventures of Andersson. 

Another explorer who has gained a world-wide fame and deserves to> 
be ranked with such heroes as Stanley, Emin Pasha, Speke and Grant,, 
and others, is Andersson, who gives us a graphic account of his travels. 
Several of his remarkable experiences we here reproduce, and the reader 
will doubtless confirm the opinion that these are of special interest. One 
extraordinary part of his travels in the Tropics relates to the privations 
and sufferings which he and his party underwent from lack of water. 
The reader must remember that travellers in the Tropics very often suffer 



GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 



659; 



from extreme thirst. Andersson's experience in this respect is one of 

the most remarkable on record. The following is his vivid account of it: 

On the second evening, or on the third after leaving Okaoa, I saw the 

guides suddenly halt and look about them, as if undecided how to pro- 




A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 

ceed. They had a short time previously declared that we should reach 
water that night. My suspicions were therefore at once aroused, or 
rather my heart misgave me. " Surely," I muttered to myself, " the fel- 
lows are trying to deceive us, or they have lost their way ! " The one 
conjecture was as bad as the other. For a few seconds I remained 



660 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

silent; but, seeing them still wavering, I advanced, and in a voice tremb- 
ling with rage and distress, thundered out, " Where is the water, men ? " 
adding, with my fowling-piece presented at the head of the acting guide, 
" If you doh't bring us to water before noon to-morrow, you die. Pro- 
ceed." 

It soon became obvious, however, that they had lost themselves, and 
that, under such circumstances, threats would only tend still more to 
confuse them. I consequendy, as they were wandering to and fro like 
men groping in the dark, and the night was fast closing upon us, 
sounded a halt to bivouac. That night was perhaps the most painful 
one in my life. I felt most keenly that not only the issue of the under- 
taking, but the lives of my party, were at stake. The agony I suffered 
is indescribable; yet, lest I should frighten my attendants, I did not 
betray the deep emotions that agitated me. They had, nevertheless, 
already taken the alarm ; dismay — nay, despair — was depicted on every 
countenance, but, be it said to their credit, not a murmur escaped them. 
Supposing the place we were in search of should not be found, the 
nearest water, Okaoa, was three long days' journey off. Could this 
place be reached in safety in our present weak state ? I dared scarcely 
answer the questio\i. The possible answer seemed too awful to dwell 
upon. 

Lost in tlie Wilderness. 

Sleep was that night, of course, out of the question, and before break 
of day I was in the saddle in search of water, having first dispatched 
three different parties on fhe same errand in as many directions. I 
returned to the camp after eight hours' sharp riding and walking, my 
horse completely done up — unsuccessful ! My approach was watched 
by the men at the wagon with feverish anxiety ; there was no need of 
words ; my face told but too plainly my complete failure. One of my 
men who had also been absent on a similar mission, soon joined us, 
equally successless. Two parties were still absent, and on their efforts 
rested now all our hopes ; but hour after hour elapsed without any news. 
The sun set, yet no men. The shadows of evening crept upon us, yet no 
men. The moon rose, yet no men. 

Our anxiety was at its height. Had the men found the water, or had 
they lost themselves in this fearful and death-boding wilderness ? Should 
I wait for the return of daylight before finally deciding on what course 
to pursue, or should I face back at once ? These and many others were 
the distracting thoughts that crowded in raoid succession on my giddy 
brain. The delay of a night would occasion the loss of another day, and 




(661) 



662 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

then, just suppose the absent parties unsuccessful in finding water, what 
would be the result ? Apparently inevitable destruction. 

Terrible Suiferiiigs. 

The oxen had now been four days without water, and their distress 
v/as already very great. Their hollow flanks, drooping heads, and low, 
melancholy moans, uttered at intervals, told but too plainly their misery, 
and went to my heart like daggers. My poor horse was no longer an 
animated creature, but a spectre of himself — a gaunt, staggering skeleton. 
The change that had come upon him during the last twenty-four hours 
was incredible. From time to time he would put his head into the 
wagon, into anyone's hands, and, looking wistfully and languidly into 
his face, would reproachfully (his looks conveyed as much) seem to say, 
" Cruel man, don't you see I am dying ; why don't you relieve my burn- 
ing thirst? " The dogs, again, ceased to recognize my caresses. Their 
eyes were so deeply sunken in their sockets as to be scarcely per- 
ceptible. They glided about in spectral silence; death was in their 
faces. The wagon was heavily laden, the soil exceedingly heavy, the 
sun in the daytime like an immense burning-glass, and the oppressive- 
ness of the atmosphere was greatly increased by the tremendous fires, 
which, ravaging the country far and wide, made it like a huge fiery 
furnace. 

Under such circumstances the oxen could never hold out for seven 
days — the time which must, I calculated, elapse before I could reach 
Okaoa — without water! Well, then, with all these ominous facts and 
forebodings before me, would it be advisable to await the return of the 
absent men ? A few moments of anxious self-communion determined 
me not to do so, but to retrace my steps without farther delay. This res- 
olution was, of course, the death-blow to the expedition. Before starting 
on our backward course I fired a number of shots, which received no 
answer, to attract the notice of the absentees. 

Appalling- Spectacle. 

I had yet a small supply of water in the wagon, having taken the pre- 
caution at starting to take the entire stock under my immediate charge. 
I now served out a few mouthfuls to each individual, left a small quan- 
tity, together with a few biscuits, on a bush for the absent men, should 
they find their way back, and then began the return journey at a brisk 
pace, but with a heavy heart. 

Health and strength, time and the season, had been thus wasted and 
lost, heavy pecuniary sacrifices made, the life of men and valuable beasts 
jeopafr|dized, bright prospects blighted, and all — all to so little purpose! 







SOUTH AFRICAN KANGAROOS. 



(663) 



664 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



My feelings on this memorable occasion may be more easily imagined 
than described. 

We had proceeded but a comparatively short distance, and were just 
escaping out of a thorn-thicket when we were suddenly startled by a 
grand, but to us appalling sight. 

The whole country before us was one huge lake of flames. Turning 
to one of the natives, I exclaimed, " Good God, our return is cut 
off! " I had seen many wood and grass fires, but nothing to equal 
this. Immediately in front of us lay stretched out like a sea a vast pas- 
ture prairie, dotted with occasional trees, bounded in the distance by 
groves of huge giraffe thorns, all in a blaze ! Through the very midst of 

this lay our path. By delaying a few 
hours the danger would have been con- 
siderably diminished, if not altogether 
over ; but delay in our case seemed al- 
most more dangerous than going for- 
ward, and so on we pushed, trusting to 
some favorable accident to bring us, 
through the perils we had to face. 

As we advanced we heard distinctly 
the sputtering and hissing of the in- 
flamed grasses and brushwood, the 
cracking of the trees as they reluctantly 
yielded their massive forms to the unre- 
lenting and all-devouring element, the 
screams of startled birds and other com- 
mingling sounds of terror and devasta- 
tion. There was a great angle in our road,, 
running parallel, as it were, to the raging fire, but afterward turning abruptly 
into a burning savanna. By the time we had reached this point, the con- 
flagration, still in its glory on our right, was fast receding on our left, thus 
opening a passage, into which we darted without hesitation, although the 
ground was still smouldering and reeking, and in some places quite alive 
with flickering sparks from the recent besom of hot flames that had swept 
over it. 

Tired as our cattle were, this heated state of the ground made the poor 
brutes step out pretty smartly. At times we ran great risk of being 
crushed by the falling timbers. Once a huge trunk, in flames from top 
to bottom, fell athwart our path, sending up millions of sparks, and scat- 
tering innumerable splinters of lighted wood all around us, while the 




WARRIOR WITH BATTLE-AXE. 



GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 



665 



numerous nests of the social grossbeaks in the ignited trees looked like 
so many lamps suspended in designs at once natural, pleasing, and splen- 
did. It was altogether a glorious illumination, worthy of Nature's pal- 
ace with its innumerable windows and stately vaulted canopy. But the 
danger associated with the grand spectacle was too great and too immi- 
nent for us thoroughly to appreciate its magnificence. Indeed, we were 
really thankful when once our backs 
were turned on the awful scene. 

At break of day we halted for a few 
minutes to breathe and to change 
oxen, then continued to journey on. 
I dispatched all the loose cattle ahead, 
giving the men orders to return with 
a fresh team as soon as they had 
drunk, fed, and rested a little. We 
arrived at the ravine a little before 
midnight, but on attemping to kraal 
the oxen, notwithstanding their fa- 
tigue, the thirsty brutes leaped over 
the stout and tall thorn fences as if 
they had been so many rushes, and 
with a wild roar set off at full speed 
for Okaoa fountain, which they 
reached the following day, having 
then been more than one hundred and 
fifty hours without a single drop of 
water ! 

Before reaching the water the men 
in charge of the loose cattle had be- 
come so exhausted with long and in- 
cessant marching, suffering all the 
time from burning thirst, that one by 
one they had sunk down. The cat- 
tle, unherded, found their way to the fountain without much difficulty; 
but the wretched horse missed his, and kept wandering about until he 
dropped from sheer exhaustion. Some natives fortunately found the 
brute, and reporting the discovery to their chief, he good-naturedly 
brought the dying beast some drink and fodder, by which means 
he gradually recovered. The animal, when found, had been seven 
days without water. I had no idea that a horse was capable of 




CARVED IVORY TRUMPETS. 



mm 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



•enduring fatigue and thirst to the extent experienced by this hack 6f 
imine. 

The poor dogs were by this time in a fearful state. What was once a 
'dear perspicuous eye now appeared like a mere lustrous speck under a 
shaggy brow. Blood flowed at times from their nostrils ; and it was 
with difficulty they dragged along their worn and emaciated carcasses. 
Sometimes they tried to give vent to their great sufferings in dismal 
ihowls, half stifled in the utterance. 

Some of the men were nearly as much af- 
fected. One was more than once speechless 
from thirst, and it was quite pitiful to see him, 
like a man despairing of life, chew old coffee- 
tobacco and withered tea-leaves. For my own 
part, I am thankful to say I suffered on this try- 
ing occasion, in a bodily sense at least, less per- 
haps than the rest of my party. 

The day after our arrival at the water-course 
the lost men suddenly and unexpectedly made 
o their appearance, and, to my great surprise, I 
f learned that they had accidentally stumbled 
upon the very water we had so long searched 
for in vain. In retracing their steps to the 
wagon to report the good news they had unfor- 
tunately lost their way, and, after a fruitless 
*arch, were obliged to bivouac on the waste. 
Like myself, they had repeatedly discharged 
guns, but as this was done long after dark, it is 
probable the wagon had by that time taken its 
departure, so that their signals were unheard 
and unanswered. 

On the eighth day, late in the evening, I 
reached Okaoa in safety, without the loss of a 
single man or beast, all, however, being in a dreadful state of prostration, 
not only from fatigue and hardship, but from torn and lacerated feet. 
This, coupled with the impossibility of procuring trustworthy guides, 
with the evident dearth of water, the absence of game, and many other 
formidable hinderances, induced me to face homeward without any 
further delay than was necessary to recruit in a measure the strength and 
vigor of bipeds and quadrupeds. 

By a careful computation, I found that the distance was 115 hours' 




;| 



CHIEF WITH REMARKABLE 
GOATEE. 



GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 



067 



actual travel, which is equivalent to 300 English miles in round numbers, 
while in our last two fruitless attempts to push northward we had trav- 
elled one hundred and twenty hours, that is, about three hundred and 
thirty English miles — a distance more than sufficient to have brought us 
to the Cunene — nay, there and back again — had we been able to hold 
our course directly for that river. 

If I had been travelling in the North of Africa, for instance, crossing 
the Nubian Desert, I could have availed myself of an animal that under- 
goes privation arising from want of water better than horses or oxen. 
The camel is celebrated for its endurance. It seems to be constructed 




CAMEL OF ARABIA. 

for the purpose of carrying sufficient water to last it for a number of 
days. It can drink and then go a long time without any apparent incon- 
venience. The Arabs, who cross tropical deserts, also have a way of 
carrying water in skin bags, which, although not very palatable after a 
number of days' journey, is, nevertheless, better than none at all. The 
accompanying engraving shows a traveller in the desert leading his 
camel, and among the various articles with which the beast is loaded, we 
may be sure there is a supply of water. 

Andersson mentions another remarkable animal, sometimes sought by 
: the hunter : Wild boars were rather numerous along the Omuramba, and 
/frequently afforded us excellent coursing. The speed of these animals is 



668 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



surprisingly great. On open ground, when fairly afoot, I found the dogs 
no match for them, and yet some of my curs were rather swift of foot. 
Tha dogs, nevertheless, dodged them at times successfully; at others 




TRAVELLER AND CAMEL CROSSING THE DESERT, 

they came willingly to bay. They fight desperately. I have seen wild 
boars individually keep off most effectually half a dozen fierce assailants. 
I have also seen them, when hotly pursued, attack and severely wound 
their pursuers. We killed occasionally two, and even three of them, in 




(669) 



670 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the course of a day. When young and fat they proved capital eating,, 
and from their novelty were quite a treat. 

Other game was almost daily secured, and my party gorged to their 
hearts' content on animal food. Indeed, we had plenty to spare. The 
animals we usually killed were a kind that can abstain long from drink- 
ing, for water is exceedingly scarce in this country — so much so that it 
was only with very great difficulty we could obtain a sufficiency for our 
cattle. 

One night I encounted a troop of lions under circumstances which 
exhibited these royal beasts in a somewhat new light. 

In the early part of the night I had observed several animals gliding 
noiselessly to the water, but considerably out of range. Not being able 
to make out what they were, I slipped quietly out, and approached 
the spot where they were drinking. I got, from the nature of 
the ground, pretty close to them unperceived, yet was still unable to 
name them. From the sound q£ lapping at the water, I concluded that 
I had hyenas before me, and as one of three animals was leaving the 
water-way I fired. The bullet took effect, and, uttering a growl, the beast 
disappeared. Whereupon, " Surely not lions ! " I muttered to myself. 
The remaining two had in the mean time also ceased drinking, and were 
moving lazily away, when a low shrill whistle from me at once arrested, 
their steps. 

I leveled and pulled the trigger; in vain this time, the ball went too 
high — in short, right over the object aimed at. The animal did not,, 
however, budge an inch, and I now clearly saw a lion. Rising to my 
feet, I shouted, in order to drive him off; but he remained stationary. I 
did not at all like his appearance, and hastened at once back to my 
ambush to reload. When again quite ready and on the look-out for 
him, he was gone ; but almost imm.ediately afterward two others resem- 
bling the first approached the water. Having drunk their fill, they were 
about to retrace their steps, when suddenly- — my person being purposely 
exposed to view — they seemed to espy me, and eyeing me for a few 
seconds, one — the largest — made straight for my ambush. 

An Exciting^ Duel. 

This seemed strange ; but, to make quite sure of his intentions, I stood 
up, and when the brute was within about forty yards of me, shouted. To 
my utter surprise, instead of moving off he came quickly on, till at a dis- 
tance of twenty-five paces or thereabouts he suddenly squatted, evidently 
intending to spring on me. " Nay, old fellow," I muttered to myself, " if 
that's the ticket, I will be even with you;" and, dropping the double- 




(671) 



'672 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

barreled gun which I held in my hands at the moment, I seized the ele- 
phant rifle, leveled, took a very steady aim at his chest, and fired. The 
bullet sped true, and I thought I had killed him outright ; but not so, 
for after rolling over two or three times, he scrambled up and decamped. 
However, I had no doubt in my own mind that the wound would prove 
fatal. On receiving the shot he gave a startling growl, and in making 
his escape was johied by his associate, who had, while the duel was pend- 
ing, remained a passive spectator. 

Death in the Jungle. 

At break of day, taking up the trail of the wounded animal, I had only 
proceeded about two hundred yards when the dogs gave tongue at a 
small bush, where immediately afterward I saw a stately lion rise to his 
feet and limp forward two or three paces. But the exertion was too 
much for him; he halted, and, turning half round, looked fiercely at his 
assailants. Not being myself in a favorable position, I shouted to my 
men to fire. . 

One responded to the call, and the lion dropped to rise no more. In 
an instant the dogs were clinging to his ears, throat, and head. The 
brute, still alive, grappled bravely with his assailants. The next moment 
half a dozen spears were quivering in his body, and a hundred more or 
so would soon have been similarly sheathed had I not promptly ridden 
up and stopped the natives, who were rushing in upon. the prostrate foe 
like maniacs. I wished the dogs to finish him, and they did so ; but three 
of the best were woundec^ in the scuffle, only one, however, at all seri- 
ously. The aim which had killed this lion had been most perfect. The 
bullet had entered exactly the centre of his chest, and, traversing the 
entire length of his body, had taken its egress through the right hind 
quarter. It was really, therefore, to me a matter of great surprise that 
the beast had survived the wound so long. 

This was decidedly the most exciting huntmg scene I have ever wit- 
nessed. Besides my own people, more than one hundred natives were 
ill the field, vociferating frightfully, and waving and darting their ox-tail 
plumaged spears with a ferocity and earnestness that Avould have made 
a stranger think they were preparing for some dreadful battle. 
Cameron's Expedition. 

Another name on the illustrious roll of tropical heroes is that of 
Cameron. Cameron shares the distinction with Stanley of having 
crossed the Dark Continent from sea to sea. His expedition was a 
^remarkable illustration of perseverance and heroic endurance. His route 
lay through Central Africa, and the reader has probably been made 



GALAXY OF RENOWNED EXPLORERS. 



673 



aware of the fact that this is the most interesting portion of the Dark 
Continent, for the reason that it is the portion which has been explored 
:the least, and also from the fact that it contains the sources of the Nile. 







m ,« 

The problem of many centuries has been "Where does the Nile rise?"" 
This question has been asked by scientific societies, by individual ex- 
plorers and by the world in general. It was very natural that Speke 



43 



674 



' WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



and Grant, Stanley and Livingstone, and then Cameron should make 
this region the field of observation and exploit. Raker started from 
Cairo and came south through the White Nile Valley. His name is 
associated with the Soudan and the regions adjacent. It was left for 
Cameron to place his name beside that of Stanley by making an expedi- 
tion from one ocean to the other. This he did, and accompanying this 
sketch of his achievements is an accurate map showing the region he 
traversed. 

Cameron has rendered important service to physical science and 
geography. His discoveries have been of a very important character, 
and these have only confirmed the discoveries which were made before 
his expedition and since. In fact it is noticeable that the great African 
explorers who liave traversed realms widely apart and then have been 




REGION EXPLORED BY CAMERON. 

brought together at some point of conjunction, have agreed almost per- 
fectly concerning the physical characteristics of the continent. While 
jealousy has, of course, been excited on the part of their friends, and 
many absurd claims have been made, the men themselves have been 
comparatively free from this petty spirit. 

Stanley was doubted, was called in question, and there were those who 
at first disbelieved that he had ever seen Livingstone, but when they came 
to obtain the evidence of his wonderful triumph, which could not be 
denied, they gracefully yielded and gave to him the unqualified praise he 
deserved. From this time on Stanley's fame was assured ; no one 
doubted that he was the foremost hero of the age in tropical discovery^ 



lU 



CHAPFER XXIX. 
THE CELEBRATED EMIN PASHA. 

Remarkable Man — Last of the Heroes of the Soudan— Birth of Emin Pasha — Early 
Education — Charmed with the Life of an Explorer — Determined to Visit Africa — 
Acquaintance with "Chinese" Gordon — Gordon's High Estimate of Emin — Emin 
Appointed to an Important Position — Governor of the Equatorial Province — Diffi- 
culties of the Situation — Strong Hand and Iron Will Required for the Natives — 
Emin's Very Irregular Troops — Marvellous Success of Emin's Government — A 
Large Deficit Changed to an Immense Profit — Construction of New Roads — Vil- 
lages Rebuilt — Immense Improvements Everywhere — Emin's Devotedness to his 
Great Undertaking — ^Wonderful Tact and Perseverance — Great Anxiety for Emin — 
Speculations Concerning His Situation — Resolve to Send an Expedition — Stanley 
Called upon for a Great Achievement. 

E come now to the world-renowned Emin Pasha, whose career 

in Africa for the past few years has awakened the interest of 

both hemispheres. Emin Pasha is the last of the heroes of 

the Soudan, and among the list, including the name of 

" Chinese " Gordon, must be reckoned some of the world's most dazzling 

names. 

Mr. Stanley's last expedition in Africa was planned for the relief of 
Emin Pasha. Emin had been appointed governor of a vast region, and 
with wonderful spirit and courage had undertaken his work. For a 
long period of time it was feared and believed that he was having a 
desperate struggle in his great undertaking, and consequently the gov- 
ernment of Belgium was especially interested in ascertaining what was 
his situation and what could be done for his relief in case he were in 
straits. Of course Henry M. Stanley was the man to plunge again into 
the heart of Africa on such an important mission as this. 

It will interest the reader to have some account of the celebrated 
Emin Pasha, who, divested of his Oriental title, is none other than 
Edward Schnitzer. We condense his biography from a history of him by 
his friend and fellow-traveller, Robert W. Felkin, of Edinburgh, Scotland. 
Emin Pasha forms at the present time the central point around which 
all the interest in Central Africa revolves, and now that it is generally 
known that the Arabic name " Emin " is only a cognomen chosen by a 
German, curiosity is aroused, and people are making all kinds of specu- 
lations as to his birthplace. 

(675) 



676 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



Edward Schnitzer was born on the 28th of March, 1840, in Oppeln, in 
the Prussian province of Silesia. He is the son of the late Ludwig 
Schnitzer and his wife Pauline. His father was a merchant. The family- 
removed in 1842 from Oppeln to Neisse, where the mother and a sister 
of Emin still reside. After being educated in the Gymnasium of Neisse, 
Edward Schnitzer commenced the study of medicine in 1858 at the 
Breslau University. He completed his micdical education in Berlin, 
where he attended the University during 1863 and 1864. and graduated. 

In 1875 Dr. E. Schnitzer paid a visit to his family in Neisse, and 




EMIN PASHA (dr. SCHNITZER). 

remained mere for a few months, devoting his leisure hours to the study 
of Natural History. Suddenly, however, the desire for travel came over 
him again ; he went by the nearest route to Egypt, and, in 1876, we find 
this enterprising man entering the Egyptian service as Dr. Emin Eflendi. 
He was ordered to join the Governor-General of the Soudan at Khar- 
toum, and from there was sent to act as chief medical officer in the 
Equatorial Province of Egypt, of which Gordon Pasha was then 
Governor. 

Gordon was the very one to value a man like Emin, and to use to the 



THE CELEBRATED EMIN PASHA. 677 

full his gifts and powers. He sent, him on tours of inspection through 
the districts which had been annexed to Egypt, and employed him upon 
several diplomatic missions. In March, 187^, after Gordon Pasha had 
been appointed Governor- General of the Soudan, Dr. Emin Effendi 
received from him the appointment of Governor of the Equatorial 
Province, \vhich post he has occupied up to the present time. 

In order to form, to some extent at least, a just estimate of what Emin 
Pasha has accomplished during the past few years, it is very necessary 
to consider briefly his work as a Governor. 

When Gordon Pasha left the Equatorial Province of Egypt to become, 
a few months later, the Governor- General of the whole Soudan, he left it 
well organized and peaceful. Its financial position was not so satis- 
factory, for the province labored under an excessive debt, caused in part 
by the initial expenses of its occupation, and also by sums not justly 
belonging to it having been debited to it by various Governors of the 
Soudan, sometimes with the object of freeing their special province from 
inconvenient debts, and sometimes in order to cook their own accounts, 
which were not always in a flourishing condition. 

A Beggarly Crowd. 

After Gordon Pasha left for the wider sphere of work, his place was 
at first filled by Colonels Prout and Mason, who, however, only held 
office for a few months, as they both had to retire on account of ill 
health. Then followed a succession of incompetent native Governors, 
under whose abominable rule the province rapidly deteriorated to a piti- 
able condition. Oppression, injustice, brutality, and downright robbery 
grew like the upas tree, and it was under these conditions that Emin 
was entrusted by Gordon with the reins of office. 

Up to this time, Emin had been the surgeon-in-chief of the Equatorial 
Province ; he had often travelled throughout its length and breadth in 
company with his chief, Gordon, from whom he had learnt much, and 
whose work he so much admired. During this time he became inti- 
mately acquainted with native character, and was entrusted by Gordon 
with three very difficult diplomatic missions — two visits to Uganda and 
one to Unyoro. This, however, was all the experience he had had when 
placed in power, and at first his difficulties were greatly increased by 
want of a definite rank, for, although appointed Governor, no rank had 
been given to him on account of the intrigues of some Khartoum 
officials. 

The state of his province in 1878, when he accepted the post of Gov- 
ernor, is difficult to describe in a few words. The population consisted of 



678 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

numerous and varied tribes, who, having once experienced the beneficent 
rule of Gordon, had suffered greatly from the oppression and cruelty of 
his successors, and there was also a scattered population throughout the 
country, consisting of former slave-dealers and many of their late 
employes, who were settled in small fortified villages over the land. The 
officials, too, for the most part, were disreputable men ; the greater num- 
ber of them were criminals, who had been banished from Egypt, and 
after undergoing their sentences, had been taken into Government 
employ. 

The Egyptian soldiers were very unreliable, and their acts of oppression 
were resented by the natives, and tended to bring about continual fric- 
tion between the Administration and the mass of the population. Some 
of Emin's " regulars " were very irregular. Added to all this, many of 
the stations themselves required rebuilding, and a block in the Nile pre- 
vented all supplies being sent to the Equatorial Province for the first two 
years of Emin's rule. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the 
cares of government rested heavily upon him. Constant journeys had to 
be made, daily complaints arrived from all sides of difficulties between 
officials and native chiefs, and a continual round of stated duties filled up 
his time from sunrise to sunset. Many a man would have shrunk from 
undertaking the responsibility of inducing order out of such chaos. Not 
so Emin Pasha. 

Wonderful Chang-es. 

Slowly but firmly, and with ever-increasing success, he became mas- 
ter of the situation, and when I passed through his province the second 
time, in 1879, a most wonderful change had taken place. Stations had 
been rebuilt, discontent was changed into loyal' obedience, corruption had 
been put down, taxation was equalized, and he had already begun the 
task of clearing the province from the slave-dealers who infested it. This 
was a difficult and dangerous undertaking, for they had rooted them- 
selves very firmly in the soil, and most of the officials in Emin's employ 
were in full sympathy with them. Emin was entirely alone ; no friend 
or helper was near. Indeed, with the exception of a few months when 
Lupton Bey was his second in command, he has been alone from the day 
of his appointment in March, 1878, until the present time. 

By the end of 1882, Emin Bey (for he received that title at the end of 
1879) had the satisfaction of being able to report that his province was 
in a state of peace and contentment. He had got rid of nearly all the 
Egyptian soldiers, replacing, them by natives whom he had trained to 
arms. He had added large districts to his province, not by the use of the 




C679) 



€80 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

sword, but by personal negotiation with native chiefs. To all this must 
be added the cultivation of cotton, of indigo, of coffee and rice, the estab-- 
tishment of a regular weekly post through his dominions, the rebuilding 
of nearly all his stations, the construction of better and more permanent 
roads, the introduction of camels, and the transport of goods by oxen ;. 
and last, but not least, he was able in that year to show a net profit of 
^40,000, whereas on his taking up the reins of government, there was a 
deficit ot ^160,000 per annum. The commercial value of the province 
may be estimated by this successful state of affairs, which was brought 
about notwithstanding the fact that during the six years, 1878-84, only- 
nine steamers had been sent from Khartoum to Lado, and only six oi 
these had carried supplies. 

A Kemarkable Character. 

From the 8th of October, 1878, the day on which I first met Emin: 
Pasha, up to the present time, my admiration and respect for him have 
steadily increased. It is impossible to become thoroughly acquainted 
with anyone in a very short time, but perhaps the best chance of getting: 
to know a man's character quickly is afforded by a meeting such as I 
experienced with Emin Pasha in the heart of Africa, and shut off com- 
pletely from the civilized world. Under such circumstances, if they 
possess any points in common, men are rapidly drawn together; and! 
there is certainly a wonderful keenness of enjoyment in such intercourse,, 
contrasting as it does so completely with the isolation, often experienced 
for months or years together, by men whose work lies in such remote 
regions as that which Emin Pasha has made his home. * 

A striking trait of his character which called forth my admiration was- 
his unselfishness. His whole heart seemed to be centred in the welfare 
of his people and the advancement of science, and no idea of fame appeared 
to enter his mind. His interest, too, in the work being done by others- 
seemed to be quite as keen as that he took in his own. 

Emin's de'alings with the natives are worthy of notice. He has always- 
been patient in the extreme with them ; he has a high opinion both of 
their intelligence and their capabilities ; he respects their peculiarities,, 
their, modes .of thought, and their beliefs, and the influence which he is 
able to exert upon native chiefs is very remarkable. His dealings with 
Mtesa and Kabrega were characterized, not only by a keen sense of 
justice, but also by a thorough appreciation of their various needs. 
Mtesa had the highest respect for him, and on several occasions he 
expressed to me his appreciation of the way in which Emin had pre- 
served his independence, when it was threatened by the injudicious 




(681) 



682 WONDERS OF THE 'TROPICS. 

action of Nur Bey, who had marched to his (Mtesa's) capital with three 
hundred Egyptian soldiers with the intention of annexing Uganda to 
Egypt. 

Peace More Effective than War. 

This action of Nur Bey's, by the way, was in direct opposition to 
Gordon Pasha's orders. Emin's power over the natives may also be 
gathered from the fact that he entered into friendly relationships with so 
many of the petty native chiefs whose districts adjoined his province. One 
after another began to trade with him, and sooner or later, with very 
rare exceptions, they asked him to extend Egyptian authority over their 
lands, and without a shot being fired they became tributary chiefs. 
They recognized that it was to their advantage to do so, for, once having 
placed themselves under his beneficent rule, they knew well that their 
•district was safe. 

I must touch upon one other point. Emin Pasha refers in many places 
to the trouble he suffered from limited authority. Baker and Gordon 
were absolutely independent of any central authority at Khartoum ; they 
had the power of life and death, and were responsible to the Khedive 
alone for their actions. Not so Emin. He was obliged to report almost 
-every detail of administration for the approval of the Governor-General of 
the Soudan, and when one considers that months, sometimes years, 
elapsed before he received an answer to his communications, it will be 
readily understood how greatly his hands were tied, and how difficult it 
was for him both to maintain order and to introduce improvements into 
his province. 

With regard to the commercial administration of the province, it was 
the old story over again — the Egyptian Government requiring the bricks 
to be made and refusing to provide the straw. Emin could not obtain 
supplies from Khartoum, and even the seeds which he required for culti- 
vation experiments had either to be purchased with his own money or to 
be begged from his numerous friends. What wonder that the Equatorial 
Province did not prove a gold-mine ! The wonder is that, left to his own 
resources, he was able in so few short years to. transform the finances of 
the country, and, instead of holding his province at a yearly deficit, to 
make a net profit. 

Emin's Desperate Struggle. 

The difficulties and dangers which disturbed the Equatorial Province in 
consequence of the evacuation of the Soudan are described in Emin's letters. 
He was himself unaware of the events which were taking place north of 
liis territory, but it was only too evident that the prosperity of his 




ikrfiiiH 



(G83) 



684 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

-province was threatened, and he had a desperate struggle for its very 
existence. At length the Mahdi's hordes began to retire, and Emin was 
subsequently able to recover most of the ground he had lost. 

In October, i885, temporary aid arrived in the shape of a caravan from 
Uganda with supplies from Dr. Junker. Emin speaks of the almost 
childish joy with which he and his people welcomed this caravan. Irt 
April, 1887, he heard that help was probably coming from England, and 
in a letter written to me then he says : — " You can imagine better than I 
can tell you that the heartfelt sympathy which has been expressed for me 
and my people in England have richly repaid me for many of the sorrows 
and hardships I have undergone." Mr. Stanley led the expedition with, 
his usual undaunted courage and perseverance. 

It will be noticed how firmly Emin states his intention of remaining at 
his post until the future of the country he has ruled so long and of the 
people in whom he takes so much interest be settled. He says : — " The 
work that Gordon paid for with his blood, I will strive to carry on, if not 
with his energy and genius, still according to his intentions and with his 
spirit ; " and, again, his concluding words are : — " All we would ask Eng- 
land to do is to bring about a better understanding with Uganda, and to 
provide us Avith a free and safe way to the coast. This is all we want. 
Evacuate our territory ? Certainly not! If it is developed in such a 
way that the good of the people be secured, it will form a centre of 
civilization and liberty to the whole of Central Africa." 



Ilj 



- CHAPTER XXX. 
EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

"Emin's Graphic Story — Sent to Unyoro by " Chinese " Gordon — Emin's Compiny on 
the March — Drenched with Rain— Ox hide Clothing — Fine Present— Very Diffi- 
cult Marching — Handsome Young Chief— A Manlike Animal— Ape Nests Among 
the Trees — The African Parrot — Several Species of Baboons — The King Sends 
an Escort — Tooting Horns and Rattling Drums —Arrival at Kabrega's— Cows 
With Neither Horns nor Humps— Country Well Peopled — Tall Grasses and 
Gigantic Reeds — The Kmg's Greetings— Kabrega on a Stool — How the King 
Was Dressed — Kabrega's Fair Complexion — Amused with a Revolver — A Merry 
Monarch — A Savage Who Could Forgive — Funny Little Hump-backs — Numer- 
ous Albinos — Interesting Custom— Embassy to Gen. Gordon — A Worthless 
Governor — Exciting Melee. 

'E have already stated that Emin Pasha is the last of the heroes of 
the Soudan and worthy to rank with General Gordon, whose 
fame is now a cherished treasure not only by his own country, 
but by all the nations of Christendom. Fov" a number of years 
Emin has been the central figure around which interest in the Dark Con- 
tinent gathered. He has told in his own graphic way the story of his 
•exploits in Africa, and we cannot do a greater favor to the reader than to 
let him peruse this stirring account as it is given by the pen of Emin 
Pasha himself The following is Emin's graphic description of his 
travels in the Dark Continent : 

It was in May of the year 1877 that His Excellency Gordon Pasha, 
prompted by the wish to be on good terms with the Negro princes in the 
south, entrusted me with the honorable commission to visit, if possible, 
the king of Unyoro, Kabrega, who, since Baker's retreat from Masindi, 
had always been our enemy, and to try and bring about a peaceable 
solution of existing difficulties. Favored by fortune, I succeeded in my 
mission, and the following pages are the result of my stay with Kabrega. 
Few travellers have as yet seen Unyoro, which circumstance may lend to 
these notes a special value. It also struck me, while perusing Baker's 
books, that they contained very little information with regard to land 
and people, habits and customs. I therefore set myself the task of col- 
lecting all that I could learn upon these subjects, in which endeavor my 
knowledge of the language was an essential help. 

We left Mruli on December 13, 1877. The road, as far as Kisuga, 

was already well known to us, and led through a slightly hilly country 

(685) 



68G WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

gently sloping away from the river towards Khor KafLi, into which it 
drains, and abounding in the thorny acacia. The ascent towards the 
west is very gradual indeed, and it is only made apparent by the denuda- 
tion of all the higher parts, which has laid bare the red clayey subsoil,, 
whilst the hollows are filled up with the grey fine-grained loamy deposit 
which is so characteristic of this country. Aloes abound. A circular 
basin, cut, as it were, in the red ground and filled with clear water, pro- 
vided a welcome resting-place for my porters, who, after a short repose, 
continued the journey, and, two hours later, stopped for their midday 
rest under a group of trees, and near little pools of water. A bush with 
shining dark green leaves and white blossoms, resembling a passion- 
flower, the stamens of which were of a yellowish white color, and the 
pistils red and yellow, was quite new to me. The red berries are eaten 
by children 

Drenched w^ith Bain. 

My companion, Kapempe, a Motongali of Kabrega's, entertained me 
by mimicking in a most amusing way the gestures of the porters who- 
found their burdens too heavy. These people express astonishment in 
a way quite new to me — a rapid raising of the closed fists to the crown of 
the head, from which they are drawn energetically to the forehead. The 
rumbling of thunder in the distance and dark clouds overhead warned us 
to start, but we were hardly on our way, when the rain poured down ia 
torrents. Every moment a porter would stop to cover himself with a 
banana-leaf, or to take off the ox-hide which serves him for a dress, in 
order to protect it from the rain, which renders it hard. In this way the 
whole column was brought to a standstill — a very pleasant episode in 
such rain as this, which poured in at one's collar and out at one's boots I 
Then, in great haste, we again started forward, through banana fields^ 
till, after a march of seven hours, we reached Kisuga, where we were 
obliged to rest the next day to dry our baggage. 

When at last we were ready to start, one of the soldiers who accom- 
panied me was taken ill, I expect, from fear of the dangers he appre- 
hended on the journey. I had therefore but one soldier left to take 
charge of my horse, and my two servants, boys between ten and twelve 
years of age — an imposing escort ! Being put on my guard by Baker's 
account of Kabrega's talent for begging, I left everything- that was not 
absolutely indispensable, even my gun, in Kisuga; and then we started 
in the direction of Londu, along the road we had previously trodden, 
through tall grass and numerous banana groves, in which reddish-yellow 
flowers threw their tendrils across our path. The soldiers marched in. 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 687 

total silence, a contrast to the noisy Waganda ; no drum was carried 
with us. Our halts became frequent, and the porters seemed to be very 
hungry, as on every possible opportunity they picked up some bananas 
or a sweet potato. Towards midday we reached Londu, the defenceless 
stockade of which, with many a spot charred black by fire, produced a 
very painful impression. Small herds of bullocks and goats and a few 
solitary inhabitants were visible in the vicinity. 

Ox-hide Clothing-. 

After having settled ourselves for the night as best we could, we sent 
to the chief of the district, who lived near, to request porters for the 
morrow, as Kabrega had promised them. I should have preferred my 
own porters from Mruli, as I could then have been more independent in 
my movements ; but Rionga's people absolutely refused to follow me 
into the land of their deadly enemy, and thus I had to rely upon Kab- 
rega's people. Biabo, the Matongali who had charge of this place, a 
corpulent young man with slightly prognathous features, paid me a visit 
in company with five or six of his men. They were reddish-brown in 
color, except one who was deep black — a man from the district of 
Shifalu, which lies near the rapids of Tada. The color of the people 
throughout this country is very various, and graduates from black to 
yellow; yet, for the most part, the fundamental color is red. The 
people are clothed in soft ox-hides, from which the hair has been 
removed, except at the borders, where a strip of hair of two fingers'- 
breadth has been left as an ornament ; their costume is completed by 
arm- rings and anklets made of brass and necklets composed of 
roots. The head is not shaved — shaving is a sign of mourning — indeed 
you often see very elegant corkscrew-like curls. A small present of 
beads procured me in return several baskets full of sweet potatoes, and 
as I had brought a bullock with me from Kisuga and presented it to my 
porters, song and revelry lasted far into the night. 

During the night rain began to fall gently, and early in the morning 
it poured down in torrents ; but in spite of that the promised porters 
arrived, and I prepared for the journey. Considering, however, that the 
baggage would get an unavoidable soaking, and that the troublesome 
and useless tent we had dragged with us required, when wet, five men 
to carry it, I determined to wait ; and I did well, for at two o'clock it 
still rained as persistently as ever, so our further march was put off until 
the following morning. My porters, who last night devoured an ox, 
were now lying hungrily around a smoking fire ; and I too had only 
what was absolutely necessary. 



€88 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Next morning a very cloudy sky did not promise well for our further 
journey; nevertheless we broke up camp in good time in order to reach 
our distant quarters at the appointed hour. A very hilly country spread 
itself out before us ; both sides of the way were flanked with solitary 
hills, and our progress was rendered irksome by antediluvian grass and 
bushes often ten feet high. Magnificent growths of papyrus fringed the 
watercourses. This day, too, we did not escape the rain ; and as only 
grass and forest lay before us, and neither huts nor plantations were to 
be seen, we were compelled to press vigorously forwards, until, about 
two o'clock in the afcernoon, we reached a small group of miserable huts, 
where we were obliged to remain for the night. 

A Valuable Present. 

The inhabitants had fled at our approach, but we found fires still burn- 
ing in the huts. Matongali Vukimba, the chief of the village, did not 
keep us long waiting, for we had hardly placed our things under cover 
"vvhen he, accompanied by two subchiefs and several of his people, put in 
an appearance, to pay his respects to me and to present me with a go^t 
and two sheep — quite a luxury. The people impressed me favorably; 
they were modest and unpretentious, and satisfied with anything that 
was given them. If they were allowed to choose between glass beads 
and cloth, they preferred the latter. This place was called Kimanya. 

The Wanyoro appear to be very much afraid of dew and rain; at any 
rate they will never get up early in the morning ; and if, when on the 
march, they come upon grass wet with dew, they lay down their loads 
and quickly tie before therfi either a large banana-leaf or a bunch of dry 
leaves in order to protect themselves. A woman who was travelling 
with us was so completely covered with dead leaves that she looked 
•exactly like a wandering withered bush. 

On the 1 8th we started very early, but after ten minutes' march we 
came to a halt near an extensive plantation of bananas and sweet pota- 
toes, in order to change our porters. Matongali Vukimba had the 
ibest intentions ; but much palaver and some blows were required before 
he was able to convince the people that they must go on; and when, 
after a quarter of an hour's halt, wev/ere again on the move, he followed 
us, with one of his subchiefs, gesticulating and shouting in such an ener- 
getic manner that I expected every minute a fight would ensue. At last, 
however, the dispute was settled, and soon after Vukimba turned back to 
Jiis village. 

We then proceeded upon our way, stoppmg, however, at every group 
of huts to try and press porters into our service. The road led at first 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 689 

through fine fields and banana groves, then up and down through high 
wild grass. On either hand, at a distance of two or three miles, there 
rose mountain groups forming distinct ranges. Magnificent " gallery " 
woods skirted two muddy rain-gutters, which we crossed. 

The silvery-haired guereza was seen among the tops of gigantic trees 
uhich were enveloped in climbing plants. Other monkeys swung among 
the creepers, and phoenix bushes formed the underwood. In the hollows 
where the rain collects there was very little water ; it reaches nearly to 
our waists; but the mud and imbedded roots made our progress diffi- 
cult. 1 he horse I had with me was perfectly useless ; I managed far 
better on foot. 

Very Diflacult Marching-, 

A short march brought us to another stream with magnificent " gal- 
lery " woods. The red tulip-like flowers of the spathodia shone against 
the thick dark foliage like flames of fire. We now left the high grass 
and marched upon a road which had been formed by pulling up the 
grass and cutting down the trees. Unfortunately, however, marching 
was rendered very difficult by the existence of deep holes where roots 
had been pulled up. For some distance a stream flowed by us at our 
right hand, its course being marked by dense foliage of overhanging 
shrubs. We then once more arrived at clearings, where bananas, sweet 
potatoes, and lubias intermingled, and here and there the green stalks of 
maize were seen, or the broad leaves of Virginian tobacco. Compounds 
containing three or four huts lay scattered throughout the cultivated 
land. They were hemispherical, and their grass roofs stretched down to 
the ground all round, except where a porch was formed over the door. 
The frames were made of light reed wickerwork and supported by nu- 
merous poles. Inside, the huts were not exactly inviting ; they were 
divided into two compartments, the floors of which were covered with 
hay, and infested by innumerable mice, cock-roaches, crickets, ^d fleas. 
Household utensils were not numerous, for the inhabitants had fled 
before us, taking all their treasures with them. 

Handsome Young Chief. 

We halted at Kitongali, in one of these clearings, where I was fortu- 
nate enough to obtain three huts for myself, my people, and my belong- 
ings. Here I had the pleasure of a visit from the village chief, a good- 
looking young man, whose father is Kabrega's confidant. He made 
quite an imposing figure, being clad in thin white skins, over which hung 
a reddish-brown loose robe ; his servant bore after him a double- 
barrelled sporting-gun. The usual presents having been exchanged, he 

U 




CHIRPING CRICKET. 



(690^ 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 691 

sent a messenger to Kabrega to apprise him of my approach, for the 
next day we expected to reach our destination. If, however, I under- 
stand African ceremonials rightly, many a day will still pass before I 
reach Kabrega's, although we are quite near to his residence. 

It is always uncomfortable to travel during the rainy season, because 
you are never master of the situation, which, indeed, leaving the rain out 
of question, is rarely the case. From midnight the thunder rolled on all 
sides, thick fog enveloped the country, and it rained as if it were abso- 
lutely necessary for the clouds to rid themselves of their whole contents 
that day. Of course, it was no good thinking of further progress in such 
weather ; and to make matters worse, my hut was not water-tight. I 
had seen none of my people that day, for, on account of the rain, and 
possibly also of hunger — for meat does not satisfy them, and corn could 
not be obtained — they were having a long sleep. 

Notwithstanding my orders that if the sun came out I intended to 
march forward, no preparations were made for a start. My people 
informed me flatly that the grass was too wet and the sun too hot, and 
that therefore I must wait until the next morning. A beautifully colored 
woodpecker hammered upon a tree-trunk, which process he accompanied 
by an angry twittering, as if he were indignant at his tiresome work. In 
the evening we heard- the almost deafening chirping of a huge brown 
grasshopper. The creature is three inches long ; it had been attracted 
by the light, and hopped about the hut. 

All the trees were literally covered with the nests of astrilda, in which 
I found both eggs and young. A lower nest contained the mother (at 
night) and her eggs. Above this was a small nest for the father. 

A Manlike Animal. 

The chimpanzee is not uncommon in the southern districts of Unyoro. 
It inhabits the woods as far north as Kiroto and Masindi, whereas in 
Uganda it remains much farther to the south, and, so far as I know, it is 
not seen farther north than Uddu. It is called it Unyoro kingabaniu 
(manlike). This, in connection with Schweinfurth's reports from the 
Nyam-Nyam districts, shows that its northern boundary is dependent 
upon thenature of the vegetation. People here say that it has nests in 
the trees, and as it chooses the highest trees to build in, it is very diffi- 
cult to catch. It appears that this ape is found much more frequent)}- in 
the Monbuttu and Nyam-Nyam districts than here, probably because 
the thicker woods in those countries afford it greater safety. In 1877-78 
four living specimens were sent from there to Khartoum, where they 
died, and were not made use of in a scientific or any other way. 



692 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The distribution of the parrot coincides with that of the anthropoid 
ape. The bird is to be seen all over Unyoro, flying about in twos and 
threes. It is a high, heavy flier, screams continuously during its flight, 
and is one of the earliest birds. Even before sunrise it is heard screech- 
ing; towards midday, however, it vanishes, in order to take its midday 
rest, and is seen again from four o'clock until the evening. The numer- 
ous sycamores provide it with necessary food. Possibly, also, it feeds on 
bananas ; at least some of the specimens I obtained ate this food 
readily, and preferred it to sugar-cane. The bird is very common in 
Uganda, and is sometimes kept in the huts, where, without any instruc- 
tion, it soon learns to speak. In Usoga, where the bird is exceedingly 
numerous, it is caught in small nets, and the red feathers from its tail are 
plucked out and used as ornaments. Care is, however, taken that the 
person performing this operation is unknown to the bird. The feathers 
are reproduced very slowly. Baboons of several species are common in 
the mountains. I have been told two or three times that black parrots 
are to be found ; but as their existence here has not been proved, it is 
probably a dark specimen of some other bird that has been seen. Still, 
it is perfectly true that many new discoveries remain to be made here. 
The King- Sends an Escort. 

At midnight the horns were blown — the drum serves only as a war 
signal — to assemble the porters ; yet at six in the morning not ten 
persons had turned up , and when, after half an hour's bargaining and 
palaver, a few more Negiioes appeared, no one seemed to know the road, 
although Kabrega's capital could not have been more than five or six 
hours distant. I was therefore compelled to send two men to Kabrega 
to beg him to send me a guide, knowing all the while that this ignorance 
was a mere pretence. Fortunately, I had been able to procure a sheep 
and a f>iw fowls, as well as some sesame for my people in exchange for a 
few beads, so they at least did not starve.- There were several heavy 
storms of rain again that day, 

At last, on the 21st, we started. The horns had been blowing for 
hours, and my people had urged me to march. As, however, I had 
heard the beating of a big drum for about half an hour, I concluded that 
Kabrega was sending one of his chiefs to meet me ; and so it turned out, 
for soon after Makango (big chief) Bkamba appeared, accompanied by a 
drummer, a gun-boy, and some five or six other people, to greet me and 
to escort me at once to Kabrega. Everything was now arranged like 
magic, and off we marched, our luggage in advance. We climbed up 
through well-cultivated land, in which were many huts j then, turning 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 693 

round by a large banana grove, we descended to a big papyrus swamp, the 

crossing of which, although it was only about two hundred yards broad, 

, occupied a whole half-hour, because the water between each single 

thicket reached up to our necks and the roots caught our feet like 

nooses.. Only one who has experienced such a passage can form an 

idea of its unpleasantness, especially when stinging and prickly vossia- 

grass abounds. 

Neither Horns nor Humps. 

When we at length found ourselves safely on the opposite bank, the 
porters, who were most wonderfully willing, went on before, and we 
passed through dense masses of grass with many mimosas, which occa- 
sion:.lly gave place to meadow-land, until we entered a sort of defile 
between two ranges of mountains, and marched on, up and down hill. 
In a banana grove, where fig-trees and phoenix palms were growing, we 
saw the fresh trails of two large hyenas. At length we left the moun- 
tainous defile, entering again into high grass and leeds, and pausing at 
last to rest by a small brook with clear bubbling water, which flowed 
over mica slabs and tasted strongly of iron Gray cows, possessing 
neither horns nor humps, stood in the water (|:hey destroy the horns of 
the cattle here as soon as they commence to grow, by cauterizing them 
with a red-hot iron, in order to enable them to pass with greater ease 
through the tall grass and the jungle). All the houses lay at a distance 
from the road. Probably in order to impress the stranger with tl:e 
immense size of the land, and therefore with the greatness of its ruler, lie 
is led round about for days through the high grass, when the d.rect 
route would hardly occupy three marching hours. The country is said 
to be well peopled. 

Soon after crossing the small stream we found ourselves again between 
rows of mountains, several summits of which may attain an altitude of 
from [,500 to 2,000 feet above the general elevation of the country, which 
is probably as much as 4,000 feet. Then followed cultivated fields, with 
many miniature votive huts, erected with the idea of obtaining a good 
harvest. Giant reeds came next, and at last the mountains opened out, 
and before us lay Kabrega's headquarters, Unyoro's capital. The huts 
which had been prepared for me lay to the left of the road, upon a hill, 
above which high mountains towered. The spot is about ten minutes 
distant from the great compound of huts which comprises the king's resi- 
dence, and which, with another compound .lying near it, forms the 
village. 

Our goods were hardly under shelter when the rain began to pour 



694 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



and the thunder to roll. Late in the evening Katagrua, Kabrega's prime 
minister, once a companion of Baker, came to visit me and to bring me 
his master's greetings. Kabrega had intended to receive me immedi- 
ately, but was prevented doing so on account of the rain. For the same 
reason it had been impossible for him to gather together for me any kind 
of present, and therefore he begged me to excuse it. I simply remarkedi;^ 
that I was very much obliged to his sovereign, but that I was not come 
in order to receive p.-esents. JVIakango Bkamba, whom I had sent with 




ARRIVAL AT KABREGA S. 

my greetings 1o the king, brought me the promise of an audience 
to-morrow. 

The sun had hardly risen when Katagrua arrived, bringing with him 
the present he had yesterday led me to expect. Two fat white oxen with 
long horns, a package of fine white salt (from the Albert Lake), three 
packages of corn and two packages of meal of the same kind of corn, 
were laid before me, together with several jars of very good banana wine, 
accompanied by Kabrega's best greetings. After Katagrua had gone, I 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 695 

had hardly time, before my audience with Kabrega, to prepare the pres- 
ents which I had brought for him, and which far surpassed anything that 
iie could previously have received. Exactly at midday my guide, Kap- 
t inps, appeared, this time dressed in presents from me, and our proces- 
sion started. It was headed by three Matongalis; then followed my 
g-iide, Kapempe, with all his people; then two porters carrying the pres- 
ents for Kabrega ; and I, in uniform, on horseback, attended by my sol- 
dier, brought up the rear. 

The road was full of papyrus. We passed over a bridge which had 
been built in my honor, then again uphill, past two small compounds, in 
the shadow of which stood crowds of staring people. We crossed an 
open square, leaving to our right the king's cattle yard, in which were 
numerous houses for the Wahuma herdsmen. A circular building" rose 
before us, with lofty entrances in front and at the back, the space before 
which was roofed in. The floor of the building was clean and strewn 
with green papyrus-leaves ; in the middle of it sat Kabrega upon a high 
stool, surrounded by his office-bearers, crouching upon the floor ; behind 
the king stood about ten men and boys, armed with guns. At his feet 
crouched Manyara,. the interpreter, a man with a bird-like face. My stool 
was placed close to that occupied by the king, and we surveyed each 
other intently for several moments. 

How tlie King "Was Dressed. 

This, then, was Kabrega, the cowardly, treacherous, beggarly drunk- 
ard described by Baker. The graceful folds of a piece of fine salmon- 
colored bark cloth covered his body up to the breast, above which it was 
perfectly bare, except the left shoulder, over which was thrown, like a 
plaid, a piece of darker-colored bark cloth. Two burnt scars were visible 
on the temples of his well-formed, smoothly shorn head, these constitut- 
ing the tribal mark of the Wanyoro ; his four lower incisor teeth were 
wanting, as is the case in all Wanyoro, and the upper incisors projected 
slightly, and were brilliantly white. (The lower incisors, sometimes also 
the canines, are always removed from girls and boys as soon as they 
arrive at puberty. They are forced out with a broad piece of iron used 
as a lever.) A necklace of hairs from a giraffe's tail, upon the middle of 
which was strung a single blue glass bead, encircled his neck. A root 
amulet and an iron bracelet were the only ornaments on his strong mus- 
cular arm ; his hands were small and well kept. He is strikingly fair, 
probably in consequence of his pure Wahuma blood. He made, upon 
the whole, a very favorable impression upon me, but there was a decided 
voluptuous expression on his face. His attendants, about fifty in num- 



696 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ber, were clothed in skins and bark cloths, and amongst them was his 
brother, an ugly black fellow. 

After presenting him with my credentials, to which I added a few 
words, a very lively conversation sprang up between us. Kabrega 
speaks the Soudan Arabic fluently. He requested me, however, 
although I speak Kinyoro, to talk with him in Arabic, and to permit my 
words to be translated by his interpreter, " so that his people tould 
understand them." I next gave him the presents I had brought with 
me, and much enjoyed his pleasure in receiving them. He paid especial 
attention to a few pieces of scented soap. My soldier had a small 
revolver in his girdle ; Kabrega requested permission to view it, and 
comprehended at once its mechanism. He took it to pieces, put it 
together again, and then gave it back to me. He then asked me to 
inform him how I had enjoyed myself last year in Uganda, and what I 
had seen there, and he was highly amused with my description of the 
court ceremonials which obtain in that country. Threatening rain 
brought our conference tb an end before either wished its conclusion. 
He promised, however, that he would soon call me again into his pres- 
ence, and then took leave of me in a thoroughly dignified manner. 

A Merry Mooarch. 

I have often visited Kabrega subsequently, and cannot say that I ever 
heard him speak an improper word or make an indecent gesture, or that 
he was ever rude, excepting, perhaps, that he sometimes spat on the 
ground before him, one of his chiefs immediately wiping up the saliva 
with his hand from the grass mat. Might not a like official find employ- 
ment at European courts ? Kabrega is cheerful, laughs readily and 
much, talks a great deal, and does not appear to care to be bound by 
ceremony — the exact opposite to Mtesa, the conceited ruler of Uganda. 

The next day I was again called to the king, whom I found sur- 
rounded by ten or twelve persons. Anyone who has seen the strict 
etiquette in Uganda could not help being greatly surprised at the non- 
chalance and informality of the Wanyoro, who lie about the floor chew- 
ing coffee in the king's presence in a perfectly unceremonious manner. 
We had a long interview, concerning which I would specially note the 
willingness with which 'His Majesty acceded to my requests, and also his 
account of what took place here during Baker's residence. Kabrega 
very readily consented to my proposition that some of his people should 
go with me, or rather be sent, to Khartoum, to pay a visit to the 
Governor-General, Gordon Pasha. My watch caused much astonish- 
ment, and I was requested to send him a loud-ticking watch after my 



■EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA, 697 

return home. I certainly cannot charge Kabrega with begging ; on the 
contrary, he sent me daily, in the most hospitable manner, stores of corn 
and meal, which, although they were only intended to supply the wants 
of one day, could easily have been made to last us for a fortnight. 
A Savage wlio Could Forgive. 

During my repeated visits Kabrega gave me the impression of being a 
thoroughly hospitable and intelligent man. Quite apart from the rich 
gifts of food, bark cloths, etc., a return for which it was impossible for 
me to make — he proved this in a very noteworthy manner in connection 
with an incident which might have brought me into a very awkward 
position. Notwithstanding my strict orders that no hostile action should 
be taken against Kabrega by the Egyptians during my visit to Unyoro, 
the soldiers in our nearest station, led by stupid, jealous officers, made a 
raid upon the country, and killed several of Kabrega's people. Katagrua 
was sent by the king to give me this information, and to assure me at 
the same time that, although this occurrence was highly displeasing to him, 
it should in no way affect our personal relations ! 

I paid a long and very interesting visit to Kabrega on the 5th of Octo- 
ber. The conversation turned upon a hundred various topics. As the 
sky was again overclouded, I withdrew after four hours' chat, and had 
hardly time to reach home before the storm broke over us. Although I 
suffered considerably during my fourteen days residence here on account 
of the torrents of rain which fell three or four times daily — which state 
of things, according to the report of the inhabitants, will last till Novem- 
ber — I have never in all my life experienced such an uproar as this 
storm. A deep darkness enveloped the land, now and then streaked by 
blue lightning, and, whipped by the raging south-east wind, hail and 
rain came beating down, the hailstones being as large as horse-beans. 
After continuing for half an hour, the hail gave place to a true deluge of 
rain, and until late in the night it still continued raining steadily. All 
our huts were full of water, and the next two days were occupied in 
repairing them. 

I received visits daily from Kabrega's chiefs, amongst whom Katagrua 
and Melindua were two really pleasant, sensible men. As regards the 
former, I have pleasure in being able to confirm what Baker said of him, 
namely, that he was the only gentleman at Kabrega's court ; not once 
did he request a single thing from me, and he received with signs of the 
greatest gratitude the little presents I was able to make him. I am 
indebted to both these men for much valuable information concerning 
the life and customs of Unyoro. 



698 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

On the 30th of September I was just preparing to utilize a pause in the 
rain by taking a walk, when I was called to Kabrega, whom I found sit- 
ting on his divan enveloped in a bark-cloth of beautiful pattern. People 
from Karagwahad arrived, bringing with them arms and ammunition, to 
be exchanged for ivory and slaves, and Kabrega wished to show his 
white guest to them. I had taken with me Speke's book, in order to 
astonish the king ; and as I showed him his father, Kamrasi, in it, as 
well as other pictures, especially the one of the famous dwarf Kimenya, 
who died several years ago, the pleasure of those present knew no 
bounds. Two small men, but certainly not dwarfs, were immediately led 
before me, one of whom, a regular hump-back, formed a subject for the 
company's hilarity. Hump-backed people, it appears, are not uncom- 
mon here. The conversation turned to the subject of white and colored 
people ; and in order to prove that light-colored persons also exist here, 
a lanky young man was introduced to me, who was distinguished by the 
yellow ground-color of his skin. He was offered to me as a present, but 
was declined with thanks. 

The production of white children (albinos) by black parents is cer- 
tainly not uncommon, but there is no question of their having anything 
to do with the marriage between blood relations, notwithstanding Mtesa 
believed this to be the cause. He probably heard such an opinion from 
Europeans. In this country brothers marry their sisters without produc- 
ing albinos. Albinos are supposed to bring with them misfortune, and 
aie therefore not considered to be of equal birth with their brothers and 
sisters. I had an opportunity subsequently in Uganda of examining 
carefully an albino girl. The presence of white people in Uganda is 
denied there, but still Albinos are found there ; and I could only hear of 
one white man who had tried to go to Ruhanda, but had not succeeded 
— probably Stanley. 

As on the 8th of October Kabrega sent me supplies, I called to thank 
him, and was taken to his private house, where I, for the first time, found 
him clothed in Arab dress, and I chatted with him in Arabic. The fat 
women whom I saw on this occasion came up in all points to the descrip- 
tion of Speke and Grant, those reliable and conscientious travellers, who 
saw similar fat women in Karagwa. Such a custom as this of fattening 
up the king's wives says more than all else for the original unity of these 
countries, or at least goes to prove the same origin of the rulers; the ruler 
ofUganda is, notwithstanding his "pedigree," only an usurper and parvenu. 

As soon as the new moon becomes visible she is greeted by the firing 
of guns. Horns and flutes form a lively, if not very hiarmonious, concert. 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WiLDS OF AFRICA. 699 

the musicians marching up and down, either upon their heels or only 
upon their toes, bending at the same time their bodies backwards and 
forwards. Kabrega himself is at this time occupied in preparing his 
magic powders, his amulets and talismans, and no doubt also dabbles a 
little in the art of divination, as is the custom with all Wahuma chiefs 
during the first few days of the new moon. 

Perpendicular Mountain. 

Early on the 9th of October, in celebration of the feast of Ramadan- 
Bairam, Kabrega sent me a present of an ox. As, for a wonder, the 
weather permitted me to get about, I climbed the towering mountain 
which was near our camp. A footpath, well worn by the herds, leads up 
to the highest peak, the base of which is hidden by grass and reeds and 
many mimosas. The soil here consists of reddish gray vegetable mould, 
under which there is a layer of brown humus two feet thick, having 
underneath it sharp-edged quartz fragments. The ascent from here is 
very difficult, in many places hardly possible except by crawling. So 
steep indeed, is the side of the mountain that only here and there a tree 
with willow-like leaves is able to take root. Short turf covers the thin 
layer of earth, which is bedded upon granite, except in some places 
where one finds quartz in small pieces. The higher one climbs, the 
scantier becomes the vegetation, until upon the summit itself, which I 
reached after three-quarters of an hour's climb, there are only four or 
five stunted trees amidst blocks of rock and structures of ants. 

Two Zanzibar merchants arrived here from Karagwa without touching 
Uganda ; both were freed slaves who wished to buy ivory by order of 
their masters ; it is abundant and pretty cheap. They offered in ex- 
change cloth, guns, powder, percussion-caps, copper and brass. Near 
midday, on the loth of October, a company of Waganda also arrived in 
order to trade. Their chief, Mbazi, an old acquaintance of mine, sought 
me out at once, and informed me that Mtesa had sent people to Mruli to 
fetch me from that place. Letters which I received on the following day 
from Mruli confirmed the arrival of one hundred and fifty Waganda, but 
as I was not there they returned to Uganda. At the same time I 
received English and Arabic letters from Mtesa inviting me to come, but 
" to bring no soldiers with me." I was told, too, that some of my things, 
which I intended to present to Kabrega, had been forwarded, but they 
had been taken from the porters by Kabrega \s people. I, of course, 
claimed them back at once, upon which Kabrega sent me word that I 
need not trouble about them, for he himself was the aggrieved party, and 
would immediately take steps for their recovery. 



700 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Two days after, the messengers whom Kabrega had sent to find them, 
returned and laid the unopened bundle at my feet. According to their 
account, all the inhabitants of the village had fled and deposited the 
goods in the house of a neighboring chief, who had delivered them up to 
them. I sent at once to Kambrega to thank him, and, moreover, to 
request an audience, when I intended to ask for permission to depart. 
At this audience, whjch took place on the 15 th, my official business was 
brought to an end to our mutual satisfaction, and I cannot refrain from 
again recording the friendly treatment extended to me by Kabrega, 
which was never disturbed by a single unfriendly word, even up to the 
last moment, so that I shall always remember with pleasure the days I 
spent here. His embassy to Gordon Pasha, composed of Kasabe, 
Baker's former guide, who had already been in Gondokoro, and the 
interpreter, Msige, were either to accompany or to follow me. As a 
parting gift, I presented Kabrega with a richly gilded sabre, which very 
much delighted him. I could therefore anticipate being able to start 
upon my return journey in a week, if no unforeseen delays occurred. 
Kabrega gave me his " dead " watch for me to get repaired in Khar- 
toum. He also requested me to send him an Arab clerk. 

King's Taxes. » 

To judge by the sounds of the Uganda drureis, the Waganda were 
really received at court on the 19th of October, after waiting nine days. 
This seemed to be the day for paying tribute ; at least the quantity of 
packets and bales lying before Kabrega's divan, as well as piles of new 
bark cloth, and the number of people who had collected together, 
proved that a great reception was taking place. The king sent some 
loads of meal for our journey. Several days later I received, in addi- 
tion to this, six oxen ; they were the hornless kind, having small humps. 

On the 22d of October I was again called to Kabrega. He was car- 
rying on a lively conversation with a number of people, amongst whom 
I noticed the Waganda ; but when I arrived the whole party was dis- 
missed, and I was, in the first place, requested to show him my revolver. 
After he had examined it, he asked me to send him some like it. A 
very animated conversation followed upon the most varied subjects, and 
was prolonged until near evening, when pouring rain commenced, and 
compelled me to return home. My real business here was at an end. 
It was almost impossible to collect anything, for all specimens, bird- 
skins, etc., were spoilt on account of the indescribable humidity. I was 
therefore ready to march. I had my farewell audience the next day, 
and can state, with satisfaction, that the wish on both sides to meet again 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 701 

was very cordial. The people who were to go to Khartoum were still 
away setting their houses in order; the king informed me that they 
would overtake me at Mruli. 

The porters who had been promised me for the next day, of course, 
did not appear, although Msige, who was to accompany me, was early 
on the spot. 

A Worthless Governor. 

To my great surprise I received letters from Magungo containing 
very curious reports concerning the doings of Nur Bey, the acting Gov- 
ernor of the equatorial provinces — a worthless, mendacious sneak. In 
consequence of this I almost decided to go to Magungo, but soon gave 
up the idea, for, on account of the constant rain, the distance would 
have been too great for my people. Having received two big elephant's 
tusks as a parting gift from Kabrega, we began the return march on the 
25th of October, by the same road which had brought us here. A vol- 
ley of guns was fired from Kabrega's headquarters in honor of the part- 
ing guest. Owing to the persistent rain, all the grasses had shot up 
higher, the reed thickets had grown more impenetrable, and thornsmore 
troublesome. At the same time the water was knee-deep in the holes 
and puddles. After we had passed Khor Kabrogeta, the water of which 
is so strongly impregnated with iron that it is said to distend the intes- 
tines, we marched a little farther, and then suddenly turned to the right 
into a much-neglected banana grove, where it was suggested that we 
should pass the night. The people scattered immediately; but when I 
looked round for shelter I only found one broken-down, abominably 
filthy hut ; so I insisted on a further march, and although an hour passed 
before I got the people together, we left this inhospitable Kikinda, con- 
tinued our difficult march through water and bush for more than an hour 
and a half, and finally occupied at sunset some huts in the village of 
Blindi. In one of the huts. here a wooden triangle was hanging, to which 
were suspended a large number of small gourds filled with pebbles ; this 
was a rattle to accompany the dance. 

No rain fell during the night, but in the early morning all the sky was 
grizzly gray, in spite of which we set out, keeping, with few deviations, 
to the road, along which we marched on our journey to Kabrega's. The 
winding Khor Kyal, although now roaring and full of water, was twice 
forded without difficulty ; but the great papyrus swamp which followed 
gave us a good deal of trouble on account of its entangled roots. We 
had hardly crossed the swamp, when the rain, till now bearable, beat 
down with such violence that we rushed forward at great speed lor about 



702 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

half an hour, when we reached KitongaH, somewhat below the place 
where we had previously passed the night. 

Exciting- Melee. 

We sheltered in some huts, dried ourselves by a blazing fire, and could 
not think of continuing our journey until midday. An unpleasant inci- 
dent happened to me here, for I discovered that, unluckily, I had lost 
my note-book during the rain, and in spite of an energetic search I was 
not able to find it ; but after the rain was ov'cr, a woman returned it to 
me uninjured. Another occurrence took place shortly before starting. 
Msige wanted to take a jar full of lubias from a woman, but she, taking 
the joke ill, struck him over the head with the jar, and wounded him 
badly. A fearful disturbance arose, and at first they wanted to kill the 
woman; but finally, after my energetic protestations, were satisfied with 
carrying off a young ox, as well as bark cloths and skins, from her hut. 
The district here belongs to my acquaintance Melimbua, who was not 
likely to approve of this summary kind of justice. Msige's head was 
bandaged as well as possible, and then we resumed our march. After 
wading through much mud and water we got back to the old road, and 
reached Kimanya late in the afternoon. The huts we had previously 
occupied had been burnt down by the inhabitants, because I, a white 
man, had slept in them. Yet I received a friendly welcome from 
Vakumba, and was even able to procure a goat. 

Kabrega had sent Matongali Matebere to look after my porters and 
my comfort, but he tqpk little trouble about these matters. It was 
already nine o'clock on the 27th of October, and not a single porter was 
to be seen. I therefore sent to him, but received neither answer nor 
porters. So I gave the order to start, and left him behind with all my 
traps, for which I held him responsible to his master; he promised to 
follow me soon. Passing by a magnificent sycamore, the hanging roots 
of which had grown into nine stems, we went on up and down hill, 
through tall grass, till we rested a while beside a pool that had been 
made for watering Kabrega's cattle. 

This continual struggle with thorns and grasses had thoroughly tired 
us out, so we were very thankful soon after to reach a few misci'able 
huts, where we could take shelter from the torrents of rain which began 
to pour down upon us. Only the most useless of my loads had yet 
arrived, while my bedding and cooking apparatus remained behind, so I 
was obliged to go to bed supperless, while the leaky hut, with its mos- 
quitoes, and water pouring in on all sides, proved no paradise, and I pre- 
ferred sleeping on a bullock's hide in the open air. But in the morning 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 703 

it grew desperately cold, and when the sun rose we were all ready to 
start at once, although our things were only arriving in driblets. This 
place was called Btobe, and was inliabited by only one family, consisting 
of one man, eight women, two children, and a dog. 

A short journey through tall grass brought us to Londu, which we 
left a litde to one side, to halt half an hour's march beyond it, in Kiji- 
veka, where some good huts were at once placed at our disposal, and 
where we were given some sweet potatoes, which we relished much 
after our thirty-six hours' fast. The Madundi, who inhabit this district, 
are of a very dark color, and speak a language quite different from that 
of that of the Wanyoro. It strikes one particularly by its humming 
tones and jerky syllables. These people are said to have drigin_illy come 
from beyond the Albert Lake, and they still practice circumcision. 
Their houses differ from the hemispherical " bee-hives " of Unyoro, in 
the construction of their reed walls and high porches. Some of the 
children are sw.ig-bellied, a result of irregular nourishment — to-day a 
great deal, to-morrow nothing. The women wear the pretty striped 
aprons of bark cloth noticed by Baker. All smoke pipes with enor- 
mously long reed stems. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 

Emin's Scholarly Attainments— A Shrewd Observer — The Wanyoro — Cleanly Hab- 
its — Sweet Perfumes — Triangular Finger-Nails — Wanyoro Cookery — Eating 
Earth — How Great Chiefs Eat — How Women Eat — What Africans Drink— Proud 
Wives of Chiefs — Use of Tobacco — Treating Friends With Coffee-berries — Wild 
Sports in Unyoro — A Famous Witch — Scene at a Fire — How Love Matches Are 
Made— Paying for a Wife by Installments — How Crime is Punished — The Coun- 
try's Government — The King's Cattle — King Kabrega Claims All the Young 
Ladies — Legend of the Creation — Belief in Charms — Curious Superstitions — Le- 
gend of the Elephant— Lege^nd of the Chimpanzee. 

O explorer in Africa has been a more curious observer of African 
traits arid character than Emin Pasha. Not only is he one of 
the first scientists of the world, and therefore has looked at Africa 
as a scholar would, taking account of the geography, its geology, 
its botany, and all its natural features, but he has also gained a very keen 
insight into the habits and customs of the savage tribes. Particularly 
has he described the Wanyoro nation, and the following description 
from his pen will possess a fascinating interest for every reader : 

The Wanyoro, though they do not despise the flesh of a cow which 
has died a natural death, are very clean and particular in their eating and 
in their persons. They will never eat on the bare ground ; even on a 
journey they carry with them a little mat for a tablecloth; but, strange 
to say, they do not wash their cooking-pots after using them. Washing 
is much in vogue, but notwithstanding the cleanly habits of the people, 
there unfortunately exists a quantity of vermin, which especially infest 
the bark cloth. The custom therefore prevails of fumigating the cloth 
every two or three days with smoke from pieces of dried papyrus-stalks 
stripped of their bark ; the thick and peculiarly pungent smoke is said 
to drive away parasites, and at the same time imparts to the material a 
perfume perceptible at some distance. As for scents, however, for rub- 
bing on the body, a kind of sweet-smelling very compact gray clay is 
used, and a species of touchwood which smells like musk. The clay is 
brought from the south, and is sold at a high price. The body is always 
clean shaved, the head only as a sign of mourning. 

Th-e Wanyoro cut their finger-nails in the form of a triangle, the ver- 
tex of the triangle being in the middle of the nail. All cuttings of the 
(704) 



EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WA^^YORO. 705 

hair and nails are carefully stored under the bed, and afterwards strewn 
about amongst the tall grass. 

Brother, sister, brother-in-law, and son-in-law are the recognized 
grades of relationship. I have never noticed any intimate connection 
between more distant relations. 

The food of the Wanyoro consists principally of vegetables, bananas, 
sweet potatoes, gourds, purslane, etc. All these are made into a por- 
ridge with ground sesame seeds, except bananas, which are plucked 
before they are ripe and roasted. Ripe bananas are seldom eaten ; they 
are used to make an intoxicating drink. When meat is to be had, it is 
eaten, even if very old ; the bones are broken in pieces and boiled with 
the meat, and then the marrow is eaten, but it is much disliked when 
raw. Marrow, with ants and sesame, is made into a dish " of which a 
man leaves nothing for his children." Milk is drunk fresh and unboiled. 
Antelopes are a favorite food, while elephant's flesh is never eaten, and 
hippopotamus meat is shunned, as it is thought to produce skin diseases. 
Many of the Wanyoro (in the lake districts) are industrious fishers, and 
eat fish with great gusto ; but others entirely avoid and despise it, as 
well as fowls and eggs. 

TVanyoro Cookery. 

All the Wanyoro eat salt. Fire is produced by holding a stick verti- 
cally in a shallow hollow made in another stick lying horizontally, and 
twirling it quickly round ; the spark is caught in hay or old bark cloth. 
This process, however, demands a good deal of skill. The honey of 
wild bees is much liked ; it is eaten alone or with porridge. 

The habit of eating earth is known in Unyoro, and is practiced as a 
remedy for a disease to which both sexes are liable. The kind of earth 
most liked is that with which the termites are in the habit of arching 
over their passages on the trunks of trees, but ordinary earth is not des- 
pised. This practice, if long continued, is said to cause discoloration of 
the skin and hair, as well as general emaciation, and finally death. Night- 
mare is ascribed to overheating the body by food or clothing. 

Throughout Unyoro and Uganda the women are the cooks ; but the 
chiefs employ men cooks, with whom they have made blood-brother- 
hood, and have separate kitchens for the men and women. The great 
chiefs always eat alone, and no one may touch or look at the dishes pre- 
pared for them. Inferior chiefs often invite their favorites to their table, 
and whenever a crumb happens to fall to the ground from the chiefs 
hand, these men snatch it up at once and swallow it, in homage to their 
lord ! Women eat in a separate place, and after the men have finished ; 

45 



706 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

it is considered a particular sign of favor when a woman is invited by her 
husband to eat with him, but the Wawitu women who spring from ruhng 
families are privileged in this respect, for they always eat with their hus- 
bands. The boys eat with the women. Meat is preferred cooked with 
vegetables, especially unripe bananas. The pots used for cooking are 
round, and exactly similar to the water-vessels, but smaller. The food, 
when ready, is poured into boat-shaped dishes standing on feet, which 
are placed on a mat ; the company gather round them, and eat with 
their hands ; spoons, however, cut out of gourd-shells, are in use. There 
are altogether three raeals in the day. After eating, in which the Wan- 
yoro are moderate, a strip of wet banana bark is used to wipe the hands. 
The fireplace used for cooking is often situated in a small compartment 
walled off by reeds (in Uganda they have separate huts for cooking). It 
consists of five stones so placed that the longest and broadest is in the 
middle, and the others stand two in a line to the right and left of it, so 
that several vessels can be put on the fire at once. 
What Africans Drink. 

For storing corn clean holes in the ground are used. Fish is split 
open, cleaned, and dried over a smoky fire; this is the method of curing 
employed on both lakes. 

The drinks used in Unyoro are sandi and mwenge. Sandi is the juice 
of ripe bananas, freshly pressed out, and little, if at all, fermented. It is 
a pleasant drink, resembling wine, and slightly sparkling, and is more 
especially affected by tfee ladies ; when it comes into the market at all it 
is rather dear. Mwenge \°, prepared by mashing bananas ripened artifi- 
cially over a fire or underground, adding water and roasted durrah, and 
allowing the liquor to stand until it has become highly fermented. This 
beverage is sour and very intoxicating. Corn is not malted here. The 
Vi's,^ oi mwenge \?> so universal in Unyoro, and particularly in Uganda, 
that I believe many people never drink water. The Wanyoro take enor- 
mous quantities of it, and even little children drink it with the greatest 
delight. Yet I have never seen drunken men here as in Europe. 

Coffee-drinking is unknown, though the tree grows in the south, and 
berries are exported in large quantities from Uganda to the north. The 
sugar-cane, which is cultivated everywhere, is eaten, but not made into 
sugar. 

Very Genteel! 

It is remarkable how proud the wives of the chiefs in this country are. 
To begin with, they do no cooking ; field work and water-carrying are 
■left.jto the servants, and the mistresses sit on their mats and do nothing 



EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 707 

but smoke and talk. For clothing, they affect fine leather imported from 
Uganda, covered with material made from bark, and adorn themselves 
with rings of brass and copper, strings of pearls round the neck and 
waist, sometimes also with anklets. The rings often cover two-thirds of 
the forearm. I have seen cuts or scars as ornaments, but only on women 
from the south-western districts. 

The food of the people varies extremely according to their rank. 
Whereas milk is much liked by all classes, and the fat wives of Kabrega 
and the greater chiefs are only permitted to live on milk, except twice a 
week salt porridge mixed with broth, and sometimes a handful of raw 
salt, the lower classes, unless they are prevented by personal dislike or 
fear, eat whatever their limited agriculture and the animal world afford 
them. Kabrega himself eats bananas and beef only, and drinks milk 
and inwenge. His cook, as also all his body-servants, are united to him 
in blood-brotherhood. To perform this ceremony a slight incision is 
made with a razor above the fifth rib on the right side. Coff.;e-berries 
are soaked in the blood, and are exchanged and eaten by those partici- 
pating in the rite. The covenant thus made lasts for life. The parties 
to it never desert one, another in danger, and frequent the houses and 
converse with each other's wives without constraint or suspicion. A 
case of breach of faith has never been known. 

Among the narcotics used, tobacco, which is much smoked by both 
sexes, takes the first place. The tobaccos from Nkole and the highlands 
of Uganda are considered the best. The pipe-bowls are spherical, large, 
and strong, and are attached to long stems, which in Londu are formed 
of two pieces tied together with skin, and are as much as five feet long. 
Everyone has his own pipe ; but when he happens not to have it with 
him, he takes a few whiffs from his neighbor's. The larger the bowl of 
the pipe, the greater the gentleman who uses it ; I have seen bowls 
which would easily hold a pound of tobacco ; they are half filled with 
glowing embers and half with tobacco ; perhaps the carbonic oxide 
increases the soothing effect of the tobacco. The most singular pipes I 
have yet seen are those used by Unyoro magicians ; a huge twin bowl, 
ornamented all over with short conical spikes, is fastened to a short 
heavy stem. 

Treating Friends With Coflfee-berries. 

In addition to tobacco, coffee-chewing is also indulged in in Unyoro 
and Uganda. The coffee-tree grows in the southern portions of both 
countries ; it resembles the tree I have seen in Southern Arabia, only 
that the leaves of the kind which grows here are larger. The pods are 



708 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

gathered when still green, dipped in hot water and dried in the sun, and 
then sold and consumed without further preparation. Many persons, 
however, partially roast the pods. The taste of the pod is peculiarly aro- 
matic, and causes a slight secretion of saliva; I could never discover any 
other effect ; on the contrary, the natives maintain that a couple of cof- 
fee-berries will drive away hunger, and likewise that the berries are a 
remedy for over-indulgence in mw€rtge. It is customary among the 
better classes to offer one another a few coffee-berries. 

My attention was repeatedly aroused in the evening by a drumming, 
rapping noise, which continued far into the night. It was produced by 
the collectors of ants, who light a fire beside the ant-hills and, as they 
imagine, induce the male ants to swarm out more rapidly by beating 
pieces of wood together. These insects are eaten raw or roasted. 

It is a curious fact that, among all the Negro tribes in this part of 
Africa, domestic animals, kept in confinement, are exceedingly rare. The 
Negro's mind is not adapted for taming wild animals ; his nature is entirely 
negative. Here and there one comes across a domesticated wild cat, or 
perhaps a house-cat broughtfrom the north. The dogs are of medium size, 
with slightly pointed muzzles ; they carry their rather long, short-haired 
tails erect, are lop-eared, long-bodied, lean, and usually of a buff-color. 
Wild Sports in Unyoro. 

Hunting parties often take place. When they are arranged privately, 
those that take part in them choose the leader among themselves ; but 
when they are set on. foot by the chief of the tribe, he appoints the 
leader. The man who throws the first spear at an animal receives a fore- 
foot if it is killed. The division of the booty is effected by general 
agreement. If the game runs on to ground belonging to another man, 
and dies there, the owner receives the right fore-foot. If a leopard or 
lion is killed near the king's dwelling, the whole animal is carried to him; 
if the place where the animal is slain is too far off, only the skin is 
brought to the king. When people kill one of these animals on foreign 
soil, the skin belongs to the king of the country. One tusk of all ele- 
phants slain belongs by right to the king, the other may be kept by the 
hunter, but the king usually gives him a girl in exchange. 

The huts of Kabrega's capital are grouped in threes and fours, sur- 
rounded by straw fences, and hidden away in banana woods and in 
depressions of the ground ; but being scattered about in large groups, 
they cover a great extent of ground ; there may be, perhaps, more than 
a thousand of them. Most of them have two rooms and high doors with 
porches. 



EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 709 

Some five or six smithies are scattered about the village, each employ- 
ing four or five workmen. A large flat stone, with a smooth even sur- 
face, driven into the ground, serves as an anvil ; a solid piece of iron, 
one end of which is beaten into the form of a handle, does service as a 
hammer. There are, too, gourd-bowls filled with water to temper the 
iron, some small pitchers for melting copper and brass, and a contrivance 
made of wood for wire-drawing. Native iron, copper, and brass are 
worked into spear-heads, knives, razors, arm and leg rings, and necklaces, 
but the workmanship is by no means superior. Brass and copper come 
from Zanzibar through Uganda. The smithies are also meeting-places 
for all lovers of gossip. Guns are repaired by Waganda smiths, who 
come here periodically, but they are very exorbitant ; for example, 
demand a female slave in exchange for a gun, , 

The preparation of cow-hide for clothing is very simple. The hide is 
tightly stretched on level ground by a large number of small pegs, and 
then scraped with knives until all bits of flesh are removed ; then it is 
dried, and rendered pliant by rubbing in butter. Every fall of rain 
makes the hide stiff" again, and then fresh rubbings are necessary ; that 
this process is not exactly agreeable to the olfactory organs of the 
bystanders is evident. Every one wears hides and bark cloths; men 
prefer cow-hides, women goat's-hides, four of which sewn together make 
a dress. The manufacture of cloth from the bark of various kinds of 
fig-trees, which are planted in banana groves, has been fully described by 
Baker, and likewise the mallet, which is used for beating it. This cloth 
is also made here ; but the finer, handsomer pieces, those in particular 
with black patterns, which only Kabrega wears, come only from Uganda, 
where the people excel in the manufacture of these goods. 

A Celebrated Witch. 

I saw an elderly woman, wearing a fantastic head-dress of feathers and 
skins, sitting in an isolated hut ; I was told that she was a very famous 
witch; she would not, however, enter into conversation, but went on 
patching up her torn dress perfectly unconcerned. 

About midnight I was awakened by a great commotion, and saw two 
houses in the village in flames. Fortunately there was no wind blowing. 
Everything was damp from the daily rains, and therefore the men soon 
succeeded in subduing the fire. No excitement of any kind was percept- 
ible, fires being of too frequent occurrence. As before stated, the floors of 
the houses are padded with a thick layer of hay, and the fireplace stands in 
the middle of the house. Very often, too, the master of the house lies 
down to sleep intoxicated, with his pipe alight, and so the mischief is done. 



710 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

When two families are on friendly terms, and wish to make a match 
between their children, the two fathers, in the first place, visit each other 
twice or thrice to drink mwenge, and on such occasions many guests are 
invited. Then the bride's father goes to the father of the bridegroom, 
and offers him his daughter " for friendship's sake." After this, the price 
of the bride is discussed and fixed, and a great feast follows, to which 
both parties contribute. A few days after the stipulated sum has been 
paid, the bride is fetched in the midst of a large procession ; amidst sing- 
ing and dancing, and copious libations of mwenge, the way is taken to the 
bridegroom's house, where she is handed over to the bridegroom, and the 
whole company spends the night in singing, dancing, and drinking. 

The father of the bride receives for himself and his people the two 
hindquarters of the ox slaughtered on this occasion by the bridegroom's 
father. On the third day after the completion of the marriage, the whole 
village assembles to pad the hut of the newly wedded couple with hay, 
when fresh libations follow. On the sixth day after the wedding, -the 
young wife visits her parents, and during this visit, of three or four days' 
duration, the husband keeps aloof Fresh drinks given by the father of 
the bride bring the ceremonies to a conclusion. The young wife then 
returns to her house, and if her husband is in good circumstances, passes 
her time in smoking, coffee-chewing, idling, and paying visits. 
Paying for a Wife by Installments. 

If a man marries, and his wife falls ill and dies during a: visit to her 
father's house, the husbaqifl either demands a wife — a sister of the deceased 
— in compensation, or receives two cows. There are instances of a man 
putting away his wife and afterwards taking her back again, a cow being 
killed on her return. When a poor man is unable to procure the cattle 
required for his marriage at once, he may, by agreement with the bride's 
father, pay them by installments ; the children, however, born in the 
meantime belong to the wife's father, and each of them must be redeemed 
with a cow. 

Should the head of a house die without children, his brother inherits 
everything, even the wives ; if there are several brothers, the younger 
ones recei^^e small shares in goods and wives, according to the good 
pleasure of the eldest, who is the chief heir. When there are no brothers, 
the chief of the tribe inherits. But when there are sons, the eldest in- 
herits all that is left by his father, the wives included, who, with the 
exception of his own mother, become his wives. The younger sons 
receive two women, two cows, and as much of the other property as the 
principal heir will give them. Wives and daughters have no share in the 



EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 7H 

inheritance under any circumstances. If at the death of the head of the 
house there is a daughter left under age, the principal heir brings her up, 
and marries her. In default of male relations, the chief of the tribe fills 
their place, and usually takes such girls into his harem. 
How Crime is Punished. 

Theft is punished in Unyoro by confiscation of cattle or women for the 
benefit of the person robbed. When a man is killed, the nearest relatives 
of the murdered man have the right to seize the murderer and kill him 
with a spear, and they receive, besides, a cow from the family of the mur- 
derer. But should the murderer escape, and they apply to the chief of 
the tribe to procure the punishment of the guilty man, the chief receives 
from them nine cows and three sheep or goats as his due, in return for 
which he causes the murderer to be seized and killed, and exacts pay- 
ment of the cow. Adultery, provided the injured man surprises the 
offender, is atoned for by a fine of four cows. If the chief is called upon 
to interfere he receives a cow. The guilty wife is beaten, and she may 
also be divorced, in which case a very curious ceremony takes place. 

The injured husband cuts a piece of bark in two, half of which he 
keeps himself, and the other half is sent with the wife to her father. 
When the cows formerly paid as the price of the bride are restored, this 
piece is returned to the husband, who then burns both pieces. Wives 
are seldom put away because they are childless, and the man is always 
blamed who does it. I have myself seen a curious punishment. One of 
the men who had been assigned to me here as servants had tied a string 
round his wife's neck, and fastened her to a tree, where she had to remain 
the whole night ; and this — because she had told him a lie. 

The whole of Unyoro is divided into large districts, over each of which 
a makungo, temporarily appointed by the king, presides, whose duty it 
is to collect the contributions of cattle, corn, etc., due to the sovereign, 
and to administer justice; but he does not possess the right of pronounc- 
ing the sentence of death, which belongs to the monarch alone — not as 
in Uganda, where every makungo may put a man to death. Appeals are 
often made to the king by those sentenced by the makungo. The peti- 
tioner kneels down before Kabrega's door at a distance often paces, and 
sets forth his requests. Kabrega then decides — not always in favor of 
the makungo. A makungo is dependent for provisions for himself and 
those belonging to him on the district he administers, in which he culti- 
vates large tracts by means of his own slaves, and has his own herds. 
If he acquits himself of his duties well, he remains in office ; if not. a 
small executive force is sent by the king, his zeriba is surrounded, an J 



712 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

everything it contains — wives, children and herds, with the exception of 
grown-up sons — is confiscated on behalf of the king. Another makungo 
is, appointed, who immediately enters into his office. They are bound to 
present themselves from time to time at the king's court with presents. 

Punishments consist for the most part in the confiscation of girls, 
women, and cows ; a sentence of death is but seldom decreed by the 
king, for, as Kabrega very justly observed to me, " a dead man pays no 
taxes." Here, as in Uganda, the bodies of those who are put to death 
may not be buried, but are thrown into tall grass. 
" Tlie King's Cattle." 

The only place in the Upper Nile district where I have seen smooth, 
fat cattle, is Kabrega's capital. They pass by to the watering-place every 
afternoon, about 1,500 in number, most of them humpless, with enorm- 
ously long horns. It is a pleasure to see the stately animals climb the 
steep mountain like goats ; most of them are gray, but some are entirely 
light brown. 

The cows, which supply milk for Kabrega's personal consumption, are 
kept quite separate; they are milked in his presence in the morning, and 
then go to pasture, escorted by a man and a boy. The boy goes before 
them calling out loudly " the king's cattle; " and every one who happens 
to be near must withdraw as quickly as possible if he does not wish to 
be killed. When I asked the reason, I was answered, there were people 
whose look could turn milk into blood. 

The daughters of Kabrega's subjects are unconditionally at his dis- 
posal, but he marks his approval of any particularly attractive girl by 
giving her father a present of cattle. He possesses also, in accordance 
with the universal Wahuma custom, all the wives of his deceased father. 

Should the monarch die, all the tutors of the princes at once assemble 
and determine which of the sons of the deceased king is the best and 
fittest to be his successor. Naturally, the decision is seldom unanimous, 
but parties are formed, and war breaks out, and continues until one of 
the princes overcomes his rivals, and gains possession of the throne, 
standing in the mortuary hut of his father, whereupon his authority is 
recognized. Then his brothers and nearest relations, with few excep- 
tions, are killed, for so custom demands ; in Uganda they are burned. 
Legend of the Creation. 

In primeval times, says the Wanyoro, people were numerous on the 
earth. They never died, but lived forever. But as they became pre- 
sumptuous, and offered no gifts to the " great Magician," who rules the 
destinies of men, he grew angry, and, throwing the whole vault of 



EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 713 

heaven down upon the earth, killed them all. But in order not to leave 
the earth desolate, the " great Magician " sent down a man and woman 
" from above," both of whom had tails. They produced a son and two 
daughters, who married. One daughter bore a loathsome beast, the 
chameleon ; the other a giant, the moon. Both children grew up, but 
soon disputes arose between them, for the chameleon was wicked and 
spiteful, and at last the " great Magician " took the moon up to the place 
whence it still looks down upon the earth. But, to keep in remembrance 
its earthly origin, it becomes large and brilliant, and then decreases, as 
though about to die, yet does not die, but in two days passes around the 
horizon from east to west, and appears again, tired from its journey and 
therefore small, in the western sky. But the sun was angry with the new 
rival, and burnt it so that the marks are still visible on its face. The 
chameleon and its progeny peopled the earth, the tails were lost, and the 
originally pale color of the skin soon became dark under the glowing 
sun. At the present time the heavenly spheres are inhabited by people 
with tails, who have many herds. The stars are watchmen which the 
" great Magician " posts during the night. The sun is inhabited by 
giants. 

The belief in magic and amulets, as well as in the possibility of mak- 
ing people ill, or even compassing their death by means of charms and 
incantations, is widely diffused in Unyoro and Uganda. Naturally no 
trace is to be found of the idea of a future life. In both countries the 
women are buried in the court of the house they have- occupied to the 
right-hand side of the door, the men to the left of it. The graves are 
horizontal, and three to four feet deep. The corpse lies on the right 
side, as is usual in sleep. The Wanyoro, however, who live on the 
Albert Lake, bury their dead, men or women, in the middle of the court- 
yard, and erect above the grave a miniature hut, in which tobacco, pipes, 
bananas, etc., are deposited. Young children are everywhere buried in 
the garden which adjoins each house. 

Curious Superstitions. 

Africa seems to be the original home of superstition. If an owl 
screeches near the house, its master dies. If a hyaena or a jackal repeat- 
edly approaches the house, misfortune is at hand ; when the rhinoceros- 
bird croaks, rain may be looked for. If a wagtail sings on the thresh - 
old, guests or presents arrive. If a man kills wagtails in the house, fire 
breaks out in it. If a wagtail forsakes its nest made in the house, misfor- 
tune is near. Vultures and ravens are chiefs among the birds, and their 
slaughter causes illness. If vultures alight on the top of a poor man's 



714 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

house, he will receive rich gifts and presents. A piece of the hide of the 
white rhinoceros, worn on the body, makes a man invulnerable. If a 
woman is the first to enter the house in the morning, it is a good sign ; 
if a man, the contrary. An eclipse of the sun announces the death of 
the. ruler. If on moving from one house to another, anything is broken 
or a woman falls on the way, the family returns to the house it has just 
left. If, on starting for a campaign, a buffalo runs across the path, or a 
guinea-fowl flies up before the warriors, this portends the death of many 
men, and everyone turns back. The bat, which flies into the house 
brings news. The Wanyoro spit three times whenever they see a shoot- 
ing-star. 

According to the Unyoro traditions, elephants and chimpanzees were 
once men, and the dog too was gifted with speech, but spoke only to his 
master. I give a literal translation of some of these legends. 

Legend of the Elephant. -^\n ancient times a man had an honest son, 
but he himself was violent, and had taken many cattle from his neigh- 
bors. Once upon a time he ordered his son to go and occupy a neigh- 
bor's house; if he did not do so he threatened to kill him. The son 
went and slept in that house, but found in the early morning that the 
inhabitants had fled. He durst not return home, whilst by himself he 
would have starved; so he prayed the "great Magician " to rescue him, 
and was thereupon, together with the house, turned into an elephant. 

Legend of the Chimpanzee. — An honest man had an only daughter, 
and she was wooed by a neighbor for his son, who had turned out badly. 
The young couple lived happily for a short time, but when the young 
wife absented herself occasionally from the house to visit her parents, 
her husband reproached her with availing herself of this excuse to go 
after other men. Each day he treated her worse ; so she fled, and 
returned to her father, to whom she related her misfortune, and he, angry 
at the stain that had fallen on his own and his daughter's honor, killed 
himself. At this moment the son-in-law arrived, and was transformed by 
the " great Magician " into a chimpanzee. But the wife, who would not 
desert him in spite of all that had happened, followed him, and from them 
are sprung the chimpanzees, who still talk among themselves like men, 
and have a fondness for women. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
EMIN PASHA'S PERILOUS SITUATION. 

The War of the False Prophet Goes on — Emin's Concern for Amadi — Sends Mes- 
sengers to Obtain News — Stirring Reports From the Scene of Conflict — Heroic 
Spirit of Some of Emin's Soldiers — Contemptible Treachery of a Part of Emin's 
Forces — Presumptuous Letter From the Commander-in Chief of the Mahdist's 
Army — Intelligence of Gordon's Death — Exultation Among Moslem Arabs Over 
the Death of Gordon — Emin Summons His Officers to a Council of War — Reso- 
lution Passed by the Council — General Recommendation of a Retreat South- 
ward -Emin's Personal Supervision of the Southward March — Manner in Which 
Emin Received the Summons to Surrender— The Equatorial Provinces in a 
Perilous Situation -Emin's Letter to Dr. Felkin — News From England of a Pro- 
posed Expedition for Emin's Relief^Thanky for Heartfelt Sympathy — Emin's 
Expressed Resolve to Remain With His People — Gordon'5 Self-sacrificing Work 
Must be Carried on — Emin's Statement of What He Wants From England — 
Disreputable Arabs — Emin Anxiously Awaiting the Outcome of Present 
Troubles — Destructive Fire and the Loss of the Station at Wadelai — The Station 
Re-built — Emin's Estimate of His Own Supporters — Emphatic Determination 
Not to Evacuate the Territory. 

TANLEY'S latest expedition into Africa was undertaken as the 
necessary result of Gordon's death and the fall of Khartoum. 
The conquest of the Soudan and the building up of a genuine 
civilization in Equatorial Africa was undertaken by Gordon in 
1874. He wrested the country from the Arab slave-hunters and sent 
Emin Pasha to Lado as Governor, under himself, of the southern prov- 
ince. This was in 1876, and Emin has lived and ruled in that region 
ever since, until brought away by Stanley. He possessed in the highest 
degree the true spirit of adventure, and for ten years, until he met Gor- 
don, -he was wandering about in Turkey, Armenia, Syria and Arabia, 
under the name of Dr. Emin, having assumed a Turkish identity and 
professed, it is said, the Mahoinetan faith. 

Gordon sent him to Lado almost as soon as he entered the Egyptian 
service, and his administration from the very first, and, indeed, until 
Selim Bey and his rebel following deposed him, early in 1889, was a great 
moral and financial success. He maintained an army of 2,000 Egyptian 
and native soldiers, exterminated the slave-hunters from his province, 
established schools and missions, and gave an enlightened, progressive 
and powerful government to a country of 6,000,000 theretofore savage 
and ignorant people. 

(715) 



716 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Meanwhile Gordon had left Khartoum, and his successor was unable 
to cope with the slave-dealers. The Mahdi, claiming to be a second 
JVJahomet, had created an Arab uprising, and was conducting a spirited 
rebellion against the Anglo-Egyptian government of the Soudan. He 
massacred Hicks Pasha's army and created havoc generally. Gordon 
was induced by the English government to go to Khartoum and restore 
"order. 

Gordon's Untimely Death, 

He was not supported by an efficient military force, however, and 
while a relief expedition was slowly crawling up the Nile, his garrison 
rebelled and murdered him, giving over the city and the Soudan wholly 
to the Mahdi. This left Emin and his province, south of the Soudan, in 
the greatest danger ; in fact, quite at the mercy of the Arabs. Their 
extermination was merely a question of Avhen the Mahdi should 
feel disposed to attack them. Internal disorders in the prophet's forces 
delayed the intended blow, and, while allaying them and preparing for 
new conquests, the Mahdi died — probably by violence. His place was 
not long vacant. Another Mahdi, claiming divine inspiration, promptly 
assumed command of the Arab forces and Emin's situation was rendered 
as desperate as before. 

We will let Emin relate, with his own pen, the startling events which 
placed him and his scattered army in such extreme peril. For greater 
safety he removed from Lado to another station, namely Wadelai, 
and from there, in Decegiber, 1885, he sent the following thrilling narra- 
tive in a letter to his friend, Dr. Schweinfurth, at Cairo. The reacier will 
understand that Amadi was one of Emin's stations. The Mahdist forces, 
already referred to, were bent on conquest. 

Being anxious, he says, at the absence of news from Amadi, I sent an 
official there to bring me a true report of the state of affairs. Before his 
arrival, or rather because they heard he was .coming, the officers resolved 
on a sortie, which was so successfully carried out that the entrenchments 
of the Danagla (the Danagla were part of the Mahdi's forces) were 
stormed, their huts burnt, and part of their ammunition destroyed. 
Instead, however, of taking advantage of the victory, the commanding 
officer ordered a retreat, and though the soldiers and officers urged him 
to complete the work on the next day, nothing was done ; the officers 
caroused, the men suffered hunger. All that was left of money and goods 
in the magazine was wasted, and the fate of Amadi can no longer be 
doubtful. 

I had written many times to the officer in command, ordering him to send 



EMIN PASHA'S PERILOUS SITUATION. 717 

the sick and wounded to Lado, and the women and childfen to Makraka, 
and finally, should the enemy's forces become too large, to retreat in 
good time to Lado, which is well and strongly fortified, or to enter Mak- 
raka, where there is plenty of corn. But I had received either no answer 
at all to my letters, or they were so worded that it was evident that sor- 
did self-interest had pushed into the background all thoughts of the wel- 
fare and troubles of the province, and of the honor of the Government 
we serve. In any case, I gave orders to the chief of Makraka to take 
corn and reinforcements to Amadi as quickly as possible, even though 
the letter should consist only of armed Negroes ; but he did not 
carry out my orders, for he could not leave the wretched Makraka 
spirits. 

On the 2 1st and 22d of February I at last received more news from 
Amadi. Keremallah (commander of the Mahdi's forces) had arrived there 
in person with a large following of clerks — including those that had been 
sent from here — soldiers, and Danagla. He had written to Murjan Aga, 
the commandant of Amadi, summoning him to surrender. A Soudanese 
officer from the Bahr-el-Ghazal (a district in Emin's province), attended 
by some soldiers, had also paid a visit to Murjan Aga, and invited him 
to join the champion.= of the faith, but had not uttered a word about 
Khartoum, and Murjan Aga had been so accommodating as to let him 
withdraw unmolested. I can give the remaining incidents concerning 
Amadi in a few words. In a very short time the station was surrounded 
on all sides, and cut off even from the river, though the distance from it 
is very short, and then the brave soldiers had to endure days of 
great hardship. 

Evacuation of Amadi. 

When the chief of Makraka did at last come up with reinforcements, 
and when men, hastily collected from all the neighboring stations, 
appeared before Amadi, they were too late too break through the block- 
ade. I cannot even yet understand why the commandant of Amadi, 
knowing, as he did, that relieving forces had arrived within two hours' 
march of the station, never attempted a sortie. The soldiers before 
Amadi were again and again led to the attack by their officers, but lost 
their courage, and at last ran away. The chief of Makraka, instead of 
sticking to his post, collected his scattered men, and went back to Mak- 
raka and his spirits. All was then given up for lost. 

Three soldiers from Amadi came into Lado on March 29. They 
related that the soldiers had repeatedly urged their officers to make a 
sortie and cut their way through, but that the latter had always hung 



718 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

back, and probably intended to yield to the enemy. At last the men 
became desperate, and, led by six brave officers, left against the will of 
their superiors, cut their way through the Danagla, inflicting heavy 
losses on them, and took the road (at least most of them did) to Mak- 
raka. Murjan Aga followed them at last when he found himself deserted. 
All the soldiers had taken their arms and ammunition with them. The 
commandant of Amadi and two of his officers had actually planned a 
surrender, and had addressed a letter to Keremallah with this intention, 
but the greater part of the officers retained their honor amidst many 
faults, and the soldiers in particular behaved splendidly, though for nine- 
teen days they lived on cow-hides, and at last ate their sandals, while 
their superiors drank spirits and made themselves comfortable. 

A Desperate Move. 

On April i the civil and military officers in Lado handed me a docu- 
ment, wherein they petitioned that all the stations in the south should be 
given up, and that we should restrict ourselves to the line from Lado to 
Kiri, Suicidal as such a suggestion was, for we should then be confined 
to the most unfruitful part of the province, and consequently throw our- 
selves into the jaws of famine, besides cutting ourselves off from the only 
way of retreat which would at last be open to us — unfortunate as this 
motion was, persuasion would have effected little, and so I had to give at 
least an apparent consent, and issue the necessary orders. 

According to the last news that had reached us, the Danagla had sent 
off skirmishing parties to within two days' march of Lado, in order to 
incite the Negroes against us, and had then concentrated themselves in 
Amadi. Letters also arrived from Keremallah. The first, a kind of 
official dispatch, told me of the events that had taken place in and 
around Amadi, said that the garrison, though summoned five times to 
surrender, had refused, that then the siege was commenced, and that 
finally the soldiers had forced their way through, and had taken the road 
to Makraka. Murjan Aga, the commander of Amadi, accompanied by 
the lieutenant Rabih Aga, had been overtaken on the way, and both had 
been slain, their heads being taken to Amadi, 

More than two hundred deserters, Dragomans, were in Amadi, besides 
many soldiers and officers. The letter concluded with a summons to 
appear at Amadi with the higher officials of the province within ten days ; 
otherwise he, Keremallah, would march from Amadi against Lado ; 
whatever might then happen would be my own fault. 

The second, also from Keremallah, but directed to me privately, 
informed me that he was only coming to support me ; no harm should 



EMIN PASHA'S PERILOUS SITUATION. 719 

happen to me if I would come and surrender. The third letter is signed 
by some of our own people, who have joined the Danagla in Amadi. 
These informed me that the officers in Amadi were drunk night and day, 
while the soldiers ate old leather and hides to appease their hunger, and 
they invited me to give myself up, for that they, the writers, had not 
received any bad treatment from the rebels. As Khartoum is not even 
mentioned in any of these letters, we may almost conclude that our oppo- 
nents had also. received no news from there for a long time. The bearers^ 
of the letters were two Negroes of Amadi. 

Meanwhile the Danagla had not remained idle, but had pushed forward 
their outposts again to within three days' march of Lado, and had insti- 
gated the Negroes to slay unmercifully any stragglers from Amadi, and 
to close the road to Makraka. A detachment of the enemy had dis- 
persed the few officers and soldiers in Kamari, near Wandi (another mili- 
tary station), and then marched against Wandi, which was untenable 
owing to its position. The soldiers therefore retired in good order 
towards Rimo, intending to take the road from thereto Rejaf But before 
they reached it, the Danagla attacked them fiercely, and were thoroughly 
defeated, losing a large number of men, and flying precipitately. The 
march forward was then commenced, and detachment after detachment 
arrived safely at Beden, with their sick men and followers. I sent some 
clerks and officials from Lado, where scarcity of corn prevailed, to the 
south and to Gondokoro, where they could find food, and I was myself 
engaged in an inspection of the fortifications, when, on April 18, I was 
again honored by despatches from Keremallah. 

Gordon and His Men Slain. 

The letters contained the usual invitations to us all to join the cham- 
pions of the faith, but the most important communication was the news 
that Khartoum had fallen. I should find the details, he said, in an 
enclosed copy of a letter from the Mahdi. This letter contained the 
news that Khartoum was taken by storm on the morning of Monday, 
January 25, and that everyone in it was slain except the women and chil- 
dren. Gordon, the enemy of God, had refused to surrender, and he and 
his men had fallen ; the Mahdi had lost ten men only. The letter, writ- 
ten in old-fashioned Arabic, and imitating in its expressions the older 
chapters of the Koran, concluded with an injunction to Keremallah to 
act in a similar manner here and in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. I returned no 
answer at all to these letters. 

On the 2d of April a reinforcement of 130 men marched into Lado, 
and on the 24th I called together a council of all the officers to discuss 



720 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the measures to be adopted to save us from famine, and to guard against 
unnecessary exposure to danger. After mature deliberation, and when I 
had retired for half an hour, resigning the chair to Major Rihan Aga, in 
order that the decision might be quite impartial, the following resolution 
was carried, in the presence of Captain Casati, an Italian officer : " Con- 
sidering that there is not corn enough in northern stations to support the 
men that have come from Kakraka as well as our own people, that the 
next harvest is still far off, that by sending out foraging parties we should 
exhaust our meagre supply of ammunition and be left at the mercy of 
the Negroes, while, on the other hand, it is impossible to procure corn 
by any other means — having regard to all these circumstances, it is 
resolved that the women and children shall be sent to the south, that the 
stations shall be occupied by soldiers only, to the exclusion of all civil- 
ians, and that they shall be given up if needful, so that all our strength 
may be concentrated in the south. The line of retreat to be chosen 
towards the south, because the route northwards beyond Bor is impassa- 
ble, and, further, we do not know whether Khartoum has not actually 
fallen, while we possess strong points of support in the south at Dufile 
and Wadelai, where there is plenty of corn and rich lands in the rear. 
Fmally, we should have a chance of sending letters and men to Zanzibar 
and Egypt, or, if everything went against us, of throwing ourselves into 
the arms of Kabrega or Mtesa's son." The requisite orders were issued 
immediately ; three compinies remained in Lado under the command of 
Major Rihan Aga. All, the civil functionaries had already been sent 
south ivards, while I only and three clerks were left. 

Emin's Heroism. 

It will be seen from the foregoing account that Emin was driven from 
one point to another, and that very dangerous enemies were resolved to 
overturn his government. It is one of the surprising features of the sit- 
uation that he never once thought of his own peril, never gave up the 
hope of holding his province, was not slain by any murderous hand, did 
not count his own toils and dangers, and with each repulse only nerved 
himself to greater courage and effort, and still fondly clung to his cher- 
ished purpose. He proved himself to be a heroic soul, and history will 
write his name high on the scroll of honor. 

In a very interesting letter to his friend and former traveller, Dr. R. W. 
Felkin, of Scotland, dated at Wadelai, April 17, 1887, Emin says : 

Some English newspapers, from which I learn that it has been pro- 
posed to send us help, have been received. You can imagine yourself 
better than I can tell you that the heartfelt sympathy which has been 



EMIN PASHA'S PERILOUS SITUATION. 721 

-expressed for me and my people in England, and the many friends we 
appear to have made, have given me extreme pleasure, and have richly 
repaid me for many of the sorrows and hardships I have undergone. I 
•could never have believed that I, a stranger, and my poor people, could 
have received such generous thoughts, and that any one would be ready 
to make such sacrifices for us. If, however, the people in Great Britain 
think that as soon as Stanley or Thomson comes I shall return with 
them, they greatly err. I have passed twelve years of my life here, and 
would it be right of me to desert my post as soon as the opportunity 
for escape presented itself? I shall remain with my people until I see 
^perfectly clearly that both their future and the future of our country is safe. 
Gordon's Self-sacrificing Work. 

The work that Gordon paid for with his blood, I will strive to carry 
•on, if not with his energy and genius, still according to his intentions 
and in his spirit. When my lamented chief placed the government of 
this country in my hands, he wrote to me : " I appoint you for civiliza- 
tion and progress' sake." I have done my best to justify the trust he 
'had in me, and that I have to some extent been successful and have won 
the confidence of the natives is proved by the fact that I and my hand- 
ful of people have held our own up to the present day in the midst of 
hundreds and thousands of natives. I remain here the last and only rep- 
resentative of Gordon's staff. It therefore falls to me, and is my bounden 
duty, to follow up the road he showed us. Sooner or later a bright 
future must dawn for these countries ; sooner or later these people will 
•be drawn into the circle of the ever-advancing civilized world. For 
twelve long years I have striven and toiled, and sown the seeds for future 
harvest — laid the foundation stones- for future buildings. Shall I now 
-give up the work because a way may soon open to the coast ? Never! 

If England Avishes really to help us, she must try, in the first place, to 
conclude some treaty with Uganda and Unyoro, by which the condition 
of those countries may be improved both morally and politically. A safe 
road to the coast must be opened up, and one which shall not be at the 
mercy of the moods of childish kings or disreputable Arabs. This is 
all we want, and it is the only thing necessary to permit of the steady 
development of these countries. If we possessed it, we could look the 
future hopefully in the face. May the near future bring the realization 
of these certainly modest wishes, and may we be permitted, after all the 
trials which God has seen fit to bring us through, to see a time of peace 
.and prosperity in Central Africa. 

You can imagine with what anxiety I look for the outcome of things, 

46 



722 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

and how I count the days which must still pass before I receive definite 
news. I thank God that I am still able to work and to keep my people 
well in hand. As long as I have plenty to occupy me, I seem to forget 
all trials, of which we have, unfortunately, only too many. I had only 
just returned here from Rejaf, when, owing to the stupidity of the 
Negroes living near this station in burning the grass during a gale of 
wind, the flames spread, and Wadelai was burned to the ground. With, 
the help of the neighboring Negro chiefs, I have been able to rebuild' 
the station, which is now much handsomer than before. It was only by 
tremendous exertions that we were able to save our arms and ammuni- 
tion, but all else became a booty to the flames. It is true that we had 
not much to lose, but what little we had was very precious, and its loss' 
all the more grievous. 

Things go on with us in the same way as before. We sow, we reap, 
we spin, and live day after day as usual; but February was an unlucky 
month, for in nearly every station fires broke out. . This was due to the 
exceptionally strong winds in that month, and to the carelessness of the 
natives in burning the grass. We have docked our steamers, and 
renewed them as much as possible ; and, besides this, we have built 
several boats, so you see we have plenty to do. I have been obliged to 
evacuate Lado, as it was impossible for me to supply the garrison there 
with corn ; but, as a set-off to the loss of this station, I have been able 
to reoccupy the district of Makraka. 

At present, therefore, we occupy nearly all the stations which were 
originally entrusted to me by General Gordon ; and I intend and expect 
to keep them all. I should like here again to mention that if a relief 
expedition comes to us, I will on no account leave my people. We have 
passed through troublous times together, and I consider it would be a 
shameful act on my part were I to desert them. They are, notwithstand- 
ing all their hardships, brave and good, with the exception of the Egyp- 
tians. We have known each other many years, and I do not think it 
would be easy at present for a stranger to take up my work and to win 
at once the confidence of the people. It is therefore out of the question 
for me to leave, so I shall remain. All we would ask England to do, is 
to bring about a better understanding with Uganda, and to provide us 
with a free and safe way to the coast. This is all we want. Evacuate 
our territory ? Certainly not ! 

It has already been stated that Emin was much averse to abandoning 
his 'province. In one of the preceding chapters Dr. Felkin reiterates this 
purpose which is freely expressed in the foregoing letter. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 

Stanley Again in Africa — Fears for the Safety of Emin Pasha — King of the Belgians 
Resolves to Send an Expedition — Deciding upon a Route — Stanley States the 
Character of the Expedition — A Country That Does Not Pay — Bees' Wax and 
India Rubber— Cutting off the Nile— A Country That Might Be Starved— Stanley 
States That His Mission is Pacific — Stanley's Old Friend Tipo-tipo - Six Hundred 
Men Enlisted — Meeting the Expenses of the Journey — The Expedition Leaves 
Zanzibar for the Mouth of the Congo — Overland Journey of Nearly Seventeen 
Hundred Miles— Appalling Difficulties — Transporting Munitions and Stores- 
Difficulty to Obtain Porters — Mystery of the "White Pasha" — Gigantic False- 
hood Told Concerning Emin — Gloomy Predictions — Fears for the Safety of 
Stanley — The Whole Expedition Thought to Have Been Massacred- -Blunders 
Committed in the Soudan and East Africa — Hostile Relations Between the Na- 
tive Tribes — Dangers Always Threatening a Passing Caravan — Marauders Eager 
for Plunder — Stanley's Selection of the Congo Route Criticized. 

'HE King of the Belgians resolved to send a relief expedition to 
Emin Pasha. This was in December, 1886. Only a few days 
previous to this Mr. Stanley had arrived in New York after 
an absence of thirteen years. When the new expedition was 
resolved upon, Mr. Stanley was immediately summoned by the King of 
the Belgians to take command. His stay in the United States was cut 
short, and he girded himself again for another journey in the wilds of 
Africa. That he was moved by humane impulses ; that he was interested 
in tropical exploration ; that he felt it his duty to render aid to one who 
was in a critical situation — is evident from the facts in the case. At once 
there was a great deal of discussion concerning the route to be taken in 
order to reach Emin Pasha. There were those who thought that the 
expedition should travel inland from Zanzibar, but Mr. Stanley resolved 
to proceed by way of the Congo. He describes the expedition as 
follows : 

The expedition is non-military — that is to say, its purpose is not to 
fight, destroy, or waste ; its purpose is to save, to relieve distress, to carry 
comfort. Emin Pasha may be a good man, a brave officer, a gallant fel- 
low deserving of a strong effort of relief, but I decline to believe, and I 
have not been able to gather from any one in England, an impression that 
his life, or the lives of the few hundreds under him, would overbalance 
the lives of thousands of natives, and the devastation of immense tracts 

{123) 



724 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

of country which an expedition strictly military would naturally cause. 
The expedition is a mere powerful caravan, armed with rifles for the pur- 
pose of insuring the safe conduct of the ammunition to Emin Pasha, and 
for the more certain protection of this people during the retreat home. 
But it also has means of purchasing the friendship of tribes and chiefs, 
of buying food and paying its way liberally. 

A Country that Doesn't Pay. 

Proceeding from England to Cairo, Mr. Stanley made all needed 
arrangements with the Egyptian government for his journey. It was 
reported that he intended to seize Emin's province, and make it an Eng- 
lish possession, but he said : 

The province is not worth taking, at least in the present state of affairs. 
The difficulty of transport from either coast is too great, and the expense, 
also, to give a return for money. As long as the Nile is closed the Cen- 
tral provinces will never pay, and it will be years before it is open again. 
Yes, the Central African provinces would be valuable enough were river 
communication free. On the east side there is no sufficiently navigable 
river, the presence of the tsetse fly prevents the employment of bullocks 
and horses, the ground is unsuited for camels, and the African elephant 
has never been tamed, so the only means of transport is by the Wapa- 
gari, or native porters, and a precious slow and expensive means it is, 
too; for any large trade purposes it would be utterly inadequate; besides, 
the only present trade is in ivory and ebony — you know what I mean by 
that, I suppose ? and ivory is getting scarcer. Of course, if the Nile 
were open there might be a splendid and most remunerative trade in 
gum, hides, bees- wax, india-rubber; anything, too, I believe, could be 
cultivated to perfection in these provinces, and probably the natives would 
soon learn, when once they got to appreciate the benefit of trading, to 
grow cotton, tea, perhaps coffee, rice, and the cinchona plant. Some 
parts are suited well for one kind of plant, other parts for another. Thus, 
cotton would grow nearer the coasts, whereas tea and coffee and the cin- 
chona plant could be cultivated on the slopes. But, as I said before, the 
true transit for trade is by the Nile. 

In the course of further conversation he said : Do you know that the 
Nile itself could be turned off with comparative ease ? The Victoria Nyanza 
is on a plateau like an inverted basin. It could be made to trickle over 
at any point. The present King of Uganda is fond of his liquor; waking 
up any morning after drinking too much " mwengi " (plantain wine) over 
night he might have what is called " a head on him " and feel in a very 
bad temper. 



STALNEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 725 

He might then take it into his head to turn off the Nile ; he might do 
this by ordering a thousand or so natives to turn out and continue to 
drop stones across the Ripon Falls at the top till they were blocked. To 
do this would be quite possible. I calculate this could be done by the 
number of men I mention in nine months, for the falls are very narrow. 
True, the effect of this could be counteracted in a year or so by reservoirs 
and dykes ; but, meanwhile, the population of Egypt would be starved. 
His father. King Mtesa, once actually contemplated doing this, not with 
a view of creating mischief, but because he wanted to water some partic- 
ular tract of land, and for this purpose to make the lake dribble over it. 

Concerning his expedition, Mr. Stanley talked at some length. Tell 
them at home, he said, that my mission is purely pacific. Does anyone 
think I am going to wade through blood to get at Emin ? If I suc- 
ceeded, what would be the consequence ? News would be brought to 
the King, " Stanley is coming with an army of thirty thousand men " — 
you know how figures increase when estimated by savages — and what 
would be the consequence ? " Ho ! is he indeed ?" the King would say; 
" I'll teach him to bring an army into my country. Chop off the heads 
of the missionaries." And what, I should like to know, is the value of 
Emin's life in comparison with that of the lives of such noble men as 
Mackay, Litchfield, Pere Loudel, and Frere Delmonce ? Does anyone 
think I would sacrifice them for the sake of Emin ? 
Stanley Again in Africa. 

The foregoing is Mr. Stanley's estimate of the work he had undertaken. 
He immediately started for Africa and arrived at Zanzibar, where he 
found Tipo-tipo, whom he had employed in 1877, when, he made his 
celebrated journey from sea to sea. Six hundred men were already en- 
listed for the expedition. Emin was reported to have a large quantity 
of ivory in his possession, and it was thought that this would go far 
toward defraying the expenses of the expedition ; the amount to be 
derived from the ivory would be realized when the party, on their return, 
reached Zanzibar. 

Stanley considered it important to enlist the services of Tipo-tipo, and 
offered to give him the position of governor at Stanley Falls, and to pay 
him a fair salary. , Tipo was pleased with this offer and consented to 
accompany the party. In the latter part of Februaiy a steamer left Zan- 
zibar for the mouth of the Congo; on board were seven hundred men 
who were to accompany Stanley. The voyage required about four 
weeks, and that too with a steamer, giving us an idea of the immense 
distances in the Dark Continent. Of course the steamer sailed around 




(726) 



STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 727 

the Cape of Good Hope, but when Stanley arrived on the western coa^t' 
at the mouth of the Congo he was still twelve hundred and sixty-six 
miles from Aruwimi, from which point he would be four hundred miles 
from Emin's capital in the Equatorial Province ; thus making a journey 
of nearly seventeen hundred miles from the coast. 

Appalling' Difficulties. 

Pushing on with all possible speed, he was at Aruwimi about the 
middle of June, having suffered some delay from insufficient transporta- 
tion, a thing by no means unusual in African exploration. Wishing to 
rebuild the storehouses at Stanley Falls, he left men for that purpose, 
and very soon began the overland march. He ascended the River 
Aruwimi as far as it was navigable, and when he began his land march, 
th^ baggage of the party, consisting of munitions and provisions, had to 
be transported on men's backs. A large quantity of rice was taken, as 
this is a wholesome and harmless food. Mr. Stanley's steel whale- 
boat, which he had brought with him, was found to be of very great 
service. Only a sparse population was found in the country through 
which they passed. Early in August it was reported that Stanley was 
advancing without the ammunition and supplies intended for Emin. 
It seems that provisions were very scarce and a large number accom- 
panying the expedition were suffering from hunger. Disease had also 
.broken out, and the fate of the expedition seemed doubtful. 

The truth was that Tipo-tipo had not kept his contract, and the five 
hundred carriers who were to convey the stores had not put in an 
appearance. This, however, was not due to any treachery on the part of 
Tipo. For a time Mr. Stanley disappeared, and very soon perplexing 
rumors came from Africa, one of which was that he had reached Emin 
and brought him relief; another, that he and his party had been mas- 
sacred ; another, that he had placed himself at the head of Emin's army 
and was advancing on Khartoum, determined to avenge the death of 
" Chinese " Gordon, and overthrow the Mahdi ; and still another that he 
and Emin had been made prisoners by the Mahdist forces. 
Mystery of the <* White Pasha." 

There were reports, too, concerning a mysterious " White Pasha " in 
•one part of the country, and there were those who firmly believed that 
the mysterious White Pasha was none other than Henry M. Stanley, and 
that he had reached Emin's capital, namely, Wadelai, and was now 
ireturning to the coast. On the 15th of December, however, came unex- 
pected news from the Red Sea Coast of Egypt that Emin's territory had 
teen captured by Arabs and that Emin himself and Stanley had been 



728 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



made prisoners. In proof of this, the following letter, which purported' 
to have been received from a Mahdist officer in the Soudan, was for- 
warded. The letter was as follows : 

" In the name of the Great God, etc. This is from the least among 
God's servants to his Master and Chief Khalifa, etc., We proceeded 
with the steamers and army. Reached the town Lado, where Emin, 
Mudir of Equator, is staying. We reached this place 5th Safar, 1306. 
We must thank officers and men who made this conquest easy to us 
before our arrival. They caught Emin and a traveller staying with him, 




EXPEDITION CROSSING A TEMPORARY BRIDGE. 

aud put both in chains. The officers and men refused to go to Egypt; 
with the Turks. Tewfik sent Emin one of the travellers, whose name is 
Mr. Stanley. This Mr. Stanley brought with him a letter from Tewfik to 
Emin, dated 8th Jemal Aowal, 1304, No. 81, telling Emin to come with 
Mr. Stanley, and gave the rest of the force the option to go to Cairo or 
remain. The force refused the Turkish orders, and gladly received us. 
I found a great deal of feathers and ivory. I am sending with this, on 
board the ' Bordain,' the officers and chief clerk. I am also sending the 
letter which came to Emin from Tewfik, with the banners we took from 
the Turks. I heard that there is another traveller who came to Emin^ 



STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 729' 

but I heard that he returned. I am looking out for him. If he comes 
back again, I am sure to catch him. All the chiefs of the province with 
the inhabitants were delighted to redeive us. I have taken all the arms 
and ammunition. Please return the officers and chief clerk when you 
have seen them and given the necessary instructions, because they will, 
be of great use to me." 

Gloomy Predictions. 

It turned out afterwards that this letter was only a transparent lie, the 
object of which was to alarm the British forces and induce them to 
abandon the country. Reliable news came from the Stanley expedition 
of sufferings and disasters, and multitudes of people were very much 
concerned for Mr. Stanley's safety. The following opinion was expressed 
by Mr. Joseph Thompson, the well-known African traveller : 

" Stanley," he said, " has met his terrible fate in some such way as 
this : He started from the Aruwimi,and almost immediately plunged into 
dense forests, to be made worse by swamps further east. Through such 
a country his caravan would have to travel in single file, with probably 
no more than twenty men in sight at one time. Under such conditions 
it would be impossible for the Europeans to keep in touch with their 
men, and thus scattered, thus without officers in a sense, they would fight 
at a terrible disadvantage. And fight they would have to for daily food 
if nothing else, and consequently with each succeeding week less able 
to continue the struggle. In this way they plunged deeper and deeper 
into the recesses of the unknown forest and swamp — and deeper and 
deeper, no doubt, into the heart. of a powerful tribe of natives. And 
then the end came. Probably in that last struggle for life not a soul 
escaped. 

" If you ask me why no news, no rumor of that catastrophe leaked 
out, I answer because there was no trade, not even a slave route, through 
that region. There was no native or Arab merchant to carry the news 
from tribe to tribe ; and as each tribe has little but fighting relations with 
the neighboring ones, the tidings would not get through by their means. 
And, after all, what would the massacre of a passing caravan be to those 
savages ? Only a common incident not worth speaking about beside the 
continual tribal wars they are accustomed to. The one thing they would 
find to remark would be the wonderful character of the plunder. Some 
day, no doubt, the news will leak out, but it may be months before any- 
thing reaches us. It is not much use crying over spilt milk, but one 
cannot help lamenting over this probable new disaster. It is all so much. 
on a par with our terrible blunderings in the Soudan and East Africa.. 




(730) 



STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION. 731 

Only another remarkable man killed, and the magnificent life's work of 
another ruined. But for the selection of the Congo route Stanley n^ight 
have been alive, Emin succored, and not improbably the Mahdi's host 
defeated." 

The foregoing opinion, expressed by a man of experience, who might 
be supposed to know what he was talking about, was very generally 
approved by those who had but a limited and superficial knowledge of 
the dangers which Stanley must have encountered. There was a 
readiness to believe that the worst had befallen him. It did not seem 
possible for one to plunge into the heart of Africa, cut off all communi- 
cation, be gone for a long period of time without having been heard 
from, and yet be in the land of the living. Except for the fact that 
Stanley had done this very thing on other occasions, the belief that he 
had perished would have been much more general. 

It was well known that he was fully equipped for his expedition. All 
that the most modern inventions and appliances could furnish had been 
supplied for the journey. He had provisions, medicines, clothing, 
trinkets for the natives, munitions of war, and the latest inventions in 
arms. Among other things, he was supplied with an automatic machine 
gun, the advantage of which was that it would load rapidly, fire ac- 
curately, and carry to a great distance. This would be especially useful 
in bringing down heavy game at long range, and also in conflict with 
the natives if they should be so daring and so unwise as to force hos- 
tilities. 

The interest in this last great expedition of Mr. Stanley has been 
almost of a personal character. Multitudes of people who never have 
seen the man, never have heard his voice and only know him by repu- 
tation, have yet felt toward him almost as if he were an intimate friend ; 
they have shared his hardships and trials ; they have wished him 
success at every step ; they have waited eagerly for news from the Dark 
Continent ; they have rejoiced in his triumphs and have been pained at 
the news of his sufferings. So the, great explorer, whose fame fills the 
world, is not only admired for his heroic achievements, but loved for 
his character and his beneficent mission. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 

The Great Explorer Heard From— News of Having Reached Emin Pasha — Interest- 
ing Letter from Mr. Stanley — Story of the Expedition's Movements— Awaiting 
the Arrival of a Steamer — Tipo tipo Again on the Scene — Lively Skirmish with 
the Natives— Setting Fire to Villages — Making an Attack Under Cover of Smoke — 
Proceeding Along the Left Bank of the Aruwimi— Again in the Wilderness— Deatlv 
from Poisoned Arrows— Making Steady Progress — Arrival at the Camp— Attempt 
to Ruin the Expedition — What Stanley Calls an "Awful Month" — Brighter Pros- 
pects Ahead— Extreme Suffering from Hunger — Great Loss in Men — A Halt of 
Thirteen Days — View of the Land of Promise — Light After Continuous Gloom of 
One Hundred and Sixty Days — A Battle Imminent — Natives Prepare for War- 
fare — Terrible War-cries Ring from Hill to Hill — Treating with the Natives — 
Attempt to Drive Back the Expedition — Sharp-shooters Rout the Natives — The 
March Resumed — Perilous Descent — Stanley Builds a Fort — Laying Up Stores — 
Illness of Stanley — Deaths and Desertions — Stanley Starts Again — Obtaining Sup- 
plies — News Again of the "White Man." 

HE dark forebodings expressed were not to be realized. The 
world was not yet to mourn the loss of one of her grandest ex- 
plorers. In the latter part of December, 1888, less than ten days 
from the time the startling prophecies of Stanley's death were 
made public, reliable news came that the intrepid hero had reached Emin 
Pasha, and that his expedition was a complete success. On the 3d of 
April, 1 889, a letter from Mr. Stanley's own hand was published, giving 
a graphic description of his journey, and proving that all the fears and 
predictions concerning his fate were happily groundless. 

His letter to the chairman of the Emin Pasha Relief Committee was 
dated at Bungangeta Island, Aruwimi River, August 28th, 1888, and ran 
as follows: 

A short dispatch briefly announcing that we had placed the first 
installment of relief in the hands of Emin Pasha on the Albert Nyanza 
was sent to you by couriers from Stanley Falls, along with letters to 
Tipo-tipo, the Arab governor of that district, on the 17th inst., within 
three hours of our meeting with the rear column of the expedition. 
I propose to relate to you the story of our movements since June 28th, 
1887. 

I had established an intrenched and palisaded camp at Yambuya, on 
the Lower Aruwimi, just below the first rapids. Major Edmund Bartte- 
(732) 



STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 733 

Hot, being senior of these officers with me, was appointed commandant. 
Mr. J. S. Jamieson, a volunteer, was associated with him. On the arrival 
of all men and goods from Bolobo and Stanley Pool, the officers still 
believed Messrs. Troup, Ward, and Bonny were to report to Major 
Barttelot for duty. But no important action or movement (according to 
letter of instructions given by me to the Major before leaving) was to be 
made without consulting with Messrs. Jamieson, Troup, and Ward. 
The columns under Major Barttelot's orders mustered two hundred and 
fifty-seven men. 

As I requested the Major to send you a copy of the instructions issued 
to each officer, you are doubtless aware that the Major was to remain at 
Yambuya until the arrival of the steamer from Stanley Pool with the 
officers, men, and goods left behind; and if Tipo-tipo's promised contin- 
gent of carriers had in the meantime arrived, he was to march his column 
and follow our track, which so long as it traversed the forest region 
would be known by the blazing of the trees, by our camps and zaribas, 
etc. If Tipo-tipo's carriers did not arrive, then, if he (the Major) pre- 
ferred moving to staying at Yambuya, he was to discard such things as 
mentioned in letter of instructions, and commence making double and 
triple journeys by short stages, until I should come down from the 
Nyanza and relieve him. The instructions were explicit and, as the offi- 
cers admitted, intelligible, 

Skirmisli with tlie Natives. 

The advance column, consisting of three hundred and eighty-nine offi- 
cers and men, set out from Yambuya June 28th, 1887. The first dav we 
followed the river bank, marched twelve miles, and arrived in the large 
district of Yankonde. At our approach the natives set fire to their vil- 
lages, and, under cover of the smoke, attacked the pioneers who were 
clearing the numerous obstructions they had planted before the first 
village. The skirmish lasted fifteen minutes. The second day we fol- 
lowed a path leading inland but trending east. We followed this path 
for five days through a dense population. Every art known to native 
minds for molesting, impeding, and wounding an enemy was resorted to; 
but we passed through without the loss of a man. Perceiving that the 
path was taking us too far from our course, we cut a northeasterly 
track, and reached the river again on the 5th of July. From this date 
until the i8th of October we followed the left bank of the Aruwimi. 

After seventeen days' continuous marching we halted one day for rest. 
On the twenty-fourth day from Yambuya we lost two men by desertion. 
In the month of July we made four halts only. On the ist of August 



734 



WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 



the first death occurred, which was from dysentery ; so that for thirty- 
four days our course had been singularly successful. But as we now 
entered a wilderness, which occupied us nine days in marching through 
it, our sufferings began to multiply, and several deaths occurred. The 




ABYSSINIAN FOOT SOLDIER, 



river at this time was of great use to us ; our boat and several canoes 
relieved the weary and sick of their loads, so that progress, though not 
brilliant as during the first month, was still steady. 

On the 13th of August we arrived at Air-Sibba. The natives made a 



STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 735. 

bold front; we ]ost five men through poisoned arrows ; and to our great 
grief, Lieutenant Stairs was wounded just below the heart; but, though 
he suffered greatly for nearly a month, he finally recovered. On the 15th 
Mr. Jephson, in command of the land party, led his men inland, became 
confused, and lost his way. We were not re-united until the 21st. 

On the 25th of August we arrived in the district of Air-jeli. Opposite 
our camp was the mouth of the tributary Nepoko. 

On the 31st of August we met for the first time a party of Manyema, 
belonging to the caravan of Ugarrowwa, alias Uledi Balyuz, who turned 
out to be a former tent-boy of Speke's. Our misfortunes began from 
this date, for I had taken the Congo route to avoid Arabs, that they 
might not tamper with my men, and tempt them to desert by their pres- 
ents. Twenty-six men deserted within three days of this unfortunate 
meeting. 

On the i6th of September we arrived at a camp opposite the station at 
Ugarrowwa's. As food was very scarce, owing to his having devastated 
an immense region, we halted but one day near him. Such friendly 
terms as I could make with such a man I made, and left fifty-six men 
with him. All the Somalis preferred to rest at Ugarrowwa's to the con- 
tinous marching. Five Soudanese were also left. It would have been 
certain death for all of them to have accompanied us. At Ugarrowwa's 
they might possibly recover. 'Five dollars a month per head was. to be 
paid to this man for their food. 

Attempt to Kuin the Expedition. 

On September 19th, we left Ugarrowwa's, and on the i8th of October 
entered the settlement occupied by Kilinga-Longa, a Zanzibari slave 
belonging to Abed bin Salim, an old Arab, whose bloody deeds are 
recorded in " The Congo and the Founding of its Free State." This 
proved an awful month to us ; not one member of the expedition, white 
or black, will ever forget it. The advance numbered two hundred and 
fifty-eight souls on leaving Ugarrowwa's, because out of three hun- 
dred and eighty we had lost sixty-six men by desertion and death 
between Yambuya and Ugarrowwa's, and had left fifty-six men sick at the 
Arab station. On reaching Kilinga-Longa's we discovered we had lost 
fifty-five men by starvation and desertion. We had lived principally on 
wild fruit, fungi, and a large, flat, bean-shaped nut. The slaves of Abed 
bin Salim did their utmost to ruin the expedition. Short of open hos- 
tilities, they purchased rifles, ammunition, clothing, so that when we left 
their station we were beggared, and our men were absolutely naked. 

We were so weak physically that we were unable to carry the boat 



736 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

and about seventy loads of goods ; we therefore left these goods and 
boat at Kilinga-Longa's under Surgeon Parke and Captain Nelson, the 
datter of whom was unable to march, and after twelve days' march we 
arrived at a native settlement called Ibwiri. Between Kilinga-Longa's 
and Ibwiri our condition had not improved. The Arab devastation had 
reached within a few miles of Ibwiri — a devastation so complete that 
there was not one native hut standing between Ugarrowwa's and Ibwiri, 
.and what had not been destroyed by the slaves of Ugarrowwa and Abed 
bin Salim the elephants had destroyed, and turned the whole region into 
a horrible wilderness. But at Ibwiri we were beyond the utmost reach 
of the destroyers ; we were on virgin soil in a populous region abound- 
ing with food. 

Our suffering from hunger, which began on the 31st of August, termi- 
nated on the 1 2th of November. Ourselves and men were skeletons. 
Out of three hundred and eighty-nine we now only numbered one hun- 
dred and seventy-four, several of whom seemed to have no hope of life 
left. A halt was therefore ordered for the people to recuperate. Hitherto 
our people were skeptical of what we told them, the suffering had been 
so awful, calamities so numerous, the forest so endless apparently, that 
they refused to believe that by and by we should see plains and cattle 
and the Nyanza and the white man, Emin Pasha. 

Kavag-es of Hunger. 

We felt as though we were dragging them along with a chain around 
our necks. " Beyond these raiders lies a country untouched, where food 
is abundant and where 5^ou will forget your miseries, so cheer up, boys ; 
be men, press on a little faster." They turned a deaf ear to our prayers 
and entreaties, for, driven by hunger and suffering, they sold their rifles 
and equipments for a few ears of Indian corn, deserted with the ammuni- 
tion, and were altogether demoralized. Perceiving that prayers and 
entreaties and mild punishments were of no avail, I then resorted to visit 
upon the wretches the death penalty. Two of the worst cases were 
accordingly taken and hung in presence of all. 

We halted thirteen days in Ibwiri, and reveled on fowls, goats, 
bananas, corn, sweet potatoes, yams, beans, etc. The supplies were inex- 
haustible, and the people glutted themselves ; the effect was such that I 
had a hundred and seventy-one — one was killed by an arrow — mostly 
sleek and robust men, when I set out for the Albert Nyanza on the 24th 
of November. 

We were still a hundred and twenty-six miles from the lake ; but, 
with a supply of food, such a distance would seem as nothing. 



STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 737 

On the 1st of December we sighted the open country from the top of 
a ridge connected with Mount Pisgah, so named from our first view of 
the land of promise and plenty. On the 5 th of December we emerged 
upon the plains, and the deadly gloomy forest was behind us. After a 
hundred and sixty days of continuous gloom we saw the light of broad 
day shining all around us, and making all things beautiful. We thought 
we had never seen grass so green or country so lovely. The men liter- 
ally yelled and leaped with joy, and raced over the ground with their 
burdens. Ah ! this was the old spirit of former expeditions, successfully 
completed, all of a sudden revived. 

A Battle Imminent. 

Woe betide the native aggressor we may meet, however powerful he 
may be ; with such a spirit the men will fling themselves like wolves on 
sheep. Numbers will not be considered. It had been the eternal forest 
that had made the abject, slavish creatures, so brutally plundered by 
Arab slaves at Kilonga-Longa's. 

On the 9th we came to the country of the powerful chief Mozamboni. 
The villages were scattered over a great extent of country so thickly that 
there was no other road except through their villages or fields. From a 
long distance the natives had sighted us and were prepared. We seized 
a hill as soon as we arrived in the centre of a mass of villages about 4 
p. M. on the 9th of December and occupied it, building a zariba as fast as 
bill-hooks could cut brushwood. The war cries were terrible from hill 
to hill, they were sent pealing across the intervening valleys, the people 
gathered by hundreds from every point, war-horns and drums announced 
that a struggle was about to take place. Such natives as were too bold 
we checked with but little effort, and a slight skirmish ended in us cap- 
turing a cow. the first beef tasted since we left the ocean. 

The night passed peacefully, both sides preparing for the morrow. On 
the morning of the loth we attempted to open negotiations. The natives 
were anxious to know who we were, and we were anxious to glean news 
of the land that threatened to ruin the expedition. Hours were passed 
talking, both parties keeping a respectable distance apart. The natives 
said they were subject to Uganda ; but that Kabba-Rega was their real 
King, Mozamboni holding the country for Kabba-Rega. They finally 
accepted cloth and brass rods to show their King Mozamboni, and his 
answer was to be given next day. In the meantime all hostilities were 
to be suspended. 

The morning of the nth dawned, and at 8 a. m. we were star- 
tled at hearing a man proclaiming that it was Mozamboni's wish that we 

47 



738 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

should be driven back from the land. The proclamation was received 
by the valley around our neighborhood with deafening cries. Their word 
" kanwana," signifies to make peace, " kurwana " signifies war. We were 
therefore in doubt, or rather we hoped we had heard wrongly. We sent 
an interpreter a little nearer to ask if it was kanwana or kurwana. Kur- 
wana, they responded, and to emphasize the term two arrows were shot 
at him, which dissipated all doubt. 

Sharp-shooters Drive the Natives. 

Our hill stood between a lofty range of hills and a lower range, On 
one side of us was a narrow valley two hundred and fifty yards wide ; 
on the other side the valley was three miles wide. East and west of us 
the valley broadened into an extensive plain. The higher range of hills 
was lined with hundreds preparing to descend ; the broader valley was 
already mustering its hundreds. There was no time to lose. A body of 
forty men were sent, under Lieutenant Stairs, to attack the broader val- 
ley. Mr. Jephson was sent with thirty men east ; a choice" body of sharp- 
shooters was sent to test the courage of those descending the slope of 
the highest range. Stairs pressed on, crossed a deep and narrow river in 
the face of hundreds of natives, and assaulted the first village and took 
it. The sharp-shooters did their work effectively, and drove the descend- 
ing natives rapidly up the slope until it became a general flight. Mean- 
time Mr. Jephson was not idle. He marched straight up the valley east, 
driving the people back, and taking their villages as he went. By 3 p. m. 
there was not a native* visible anywhere, except on one small hill about 
a mile and a half west of us. 

On the morning of the 12th we continued our march; during the day 
we had four little fights. On the 13th marched straight east ; attacked 
by new forces every hour until noon, when we halted for refreshments.^ 
These we successfully overcame. 

At I p. M. we resumed our march. Fifteen minutes later I cried out, 
" Prepare yourself for a sight of the Nyanza." The men murmured and 
doubted, and said, " Why does the master continually talk to us in this 
way? Nyanza, indeed! Is not this a plain, and can we not see moun- 
tains at least four days' march ahead of us." At 1.30 p. m. the Albert 
Nyanza was below them. Now it was my turn to jeer and scoff at the 
doubters, but as I was about to ask them what they saw, so many came 
to kiss my hands and beg my pardon, that I could not say a word. 
This was my reward. The mountains, they said, were the mountains of 
Unyoro, or rather its lofty plateau wall. Kavali, the objective point of 
the expedition, was six miles from us as the crow flies. 



STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 739 

We were at an altitude of five thousand two hundred feet above the 
sea. The Albert Nyanza was over two thousand nine hundred below 
us. We stood in 1° 20' N. lat; the south end of the Nyanza lay largely 
mapped about six miles south of this position. Right across to the 




eastern shore every dent in its low, flat shore was visible, and traced like 
a silver snake on a dark ground was the tributary Laniliki, flowing into 
the Albert from the southwest 

After a short halt to enjoy the prospect, we commenced the rugged 



740 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

and stony descent. Before the rear-guard had descended one hundred 
feet, the natives of the plateau we had just left poured after them. Had 
they shown as much courage and perseverance on the plain as they now 
exhibited, we might have been seriously delayed. The rear-guard was 
kept very busy until within a few hundred feet of the Nyanza plain. We 
camped at the foot of the plateau wall, the aneroids readings two thou- 
sand five hundred feet above sea-level. A night attack was made on us, 
but our sentries sufficed to drive these natives away.' 

At 9 A. M. of the 14th we approached the village of Kakongo, situate 
at the southwest corner of the Albert Lake. Three hours were spent by 
us attempting to make friends. We signally failed. They would not 
allaw us to go to the lake, because we might frighten their cattle. They 
would not exchange blood-brotherhood with us, because they never 
heard of any good people coming from the west side of the lake. They 
would not accept any present from us, because they did not know who 
we were. They would give us water to drink, and they would show us 
our road up to Nyam Sassic. But from these singular people we learned 
that they had heard there was a white man at Unyoro, but they had 
never heard of any white men being on the west side, nor had they seen 
any steamers on the lake. There were no canoes to be had, except such 
as would hold the men, etc. 

Building a Fort. 
. There was no excuse for quarrelling ; the people were civil enough, 
but they did not want us^near them. We therefore were shown the path 
and followed it a few miles, when we camped about half a mile from the 
lake. We began to consider our position, with the light thrown 
upon it by the conversation with the Kakongo natives. My couriers 
from Zanzibar had evidently not arrived, or, I presume, Emin Pasha with 
his two steamers would have paid the southwest side of the lake a visit 
to prepare the natives for our coming. My boat was at Kilonga-Longa's, 
one hundred and ninety miles distant. 

There was no canoe obtainable, and to seize a canoe without the 
excuse of a quarrel my conscience would not permit. There was no tree 
anywhere of a size to make canoes. Wadelai was a terrible distance off 
for an expedition so reduced as ours. We had used five cases of car- 
tridges in five days of fighting on the'plain. A month of such fighting 
must exhaust our stock. There was no plan suggested which seemed 
feasible to me, except that of retreating to Ibwiri, build a fort, send a 
party back to Kilonga-Longa's for our boat, store up every load in the 
fort not conveyable, leave a garrison in the fort to hold it, and raise corn 



STANLEY'S THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY. 74] 

for us ; march back again to the Albert Lake, and send the boat to 
search for Emin Pasha. This, was the plan which, after lengthy discus- 
sions with my officers, I resolved upon. 

On the 15th we marched to the site of Kavali, on the west side of the 
lake. Kavali had years ago been destroyed. At 4 p. m. the Kakongo 
natives had followed us and shot several arrows into our bivouac, and 
disappeared as quickly as they came. At 6 p. m. we began a night march, 
and by 10 a. m. of the i6th we had gained the crest of the plateau once 
more, Kakongo natives having persisted in following us up the slope of 
the plateau. We had one man killed and one wounded. 

Illness of Stanley. 

By January 7th we were in Ibwiri once again, and after a few days' 
rest Lieutenant Stairs, with a hundred men, sent to Kilonga-Longa's to 
bring the boat and goods up, also Surgeon Parke and Captain Nelson. 
Out of the thirty-eight sick in charge of the officers, only eleven men 
were brought to the fort, the rest had died or deserted. On the return 
of Stairs with the boat and goods he was sent to Ugarrowwa's to bring 
up the convalescents there. I granted him thirty-nine days' grace. Soon 
after his departure I was attacked with gastritis and an abscess on the 
arm, but after a month's careful nursing by Dr. Parke I recovered, and 
forty-seven days having expired, I set out again for the Albert Nyanza, 
April 2d, accompanied by Messrs. Jephsqn and Parke. Captain Nelson, 
now recovered, was appointed commandant of Fort Bodo in our absence, 
with a garrison of forty-three men and boys. 

On April 26th we arrived in Mozamboni's country once again, but 
this time, after solicitation, Mozamboni decided to make blood-brother- 
hood with me. Though I had fifty rifles less with me on this second 
visit, the example of Mozamboni was followed by all the other chiefs 
as far as Nyanza, and every difficulty seemed removed. Food was sup- 
plied gratis ; cattle, goats, sheep, and fowls were also given in such 
abundance that our people lived royally. One day's march from the 
Nyanza the natives came from Kavali, and said that a white man named 
" Maleja" had given their chief a black packet to give to me, his son. 
Would I follow them ? " Yes, to-morrow," I answered, " and if your 
words are true I will make you rich." 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA, 

Wonderful Tales by Natives — " Ships as Large, as Islands; Filled with Men" — Note 
from Etnin Pasha — Strip of American Oil-cloth — Boat Dispatched to Nyanza — 
Hospitable Reception by the Egyptian Garrison — Joyful Meeting — Emin and 
Stanley Together — Only Sixteen Men Left Out of Fifty six — Favorable Accounts 
of the Fort — Getting Rid of Encumbrances— Moving Foward — Securing Am- 
ple Supplies — Immense Flotilla of Canoes — Hair-breadth Escapes and Tragic 
Scenes — Reorganizing the Expedition — Stanley Reported. Dead — Immense Loss 
of Men — Good Accounts of the Survivors — Vast Forests— Sublime Scenery — 
High Table-lands — Lake Nyanza— Conversation with Emin Pasha — What Shall 
be Done? — Planning to Remove — Disposing of Women and Children — Last 
Words— Stanley Sends a Message to the Troops — Emin Pasha to Visit the Fort — 
Stanley Makes a Short Cut — Success Thus Far of the Expedition. 

'HE natives were with us that night, teUing wonderful stories about 
" big ships as large as islands filled with men," which left no doubt 
in our mind that this white man was Emin Pasha. The next day's 
march brought us to the chief Kavali, and after a while he handed 
me a note from Emin Pasha, covered with a strip of black American oil- 
cloth. The note was to the effect " that as there had been a native rumor to 
the effect that a white man had been seen at the south end of the lake, he 
had gone in his steamer to make inquiries, but had been unable to obtain 
reliable information, as the natives were terribly afraid of Kabba-Rega, 
King of Unyoro, and connected every stranger with him. However, the 
wife of the Nyamsassie chief had told a native ally of his named Mogo 
that she had seen us in Mrusuma (Mozamboni's country). He therefore 
begged me to remain where I was until he could communicate v/ith me." 
The note was signed " (Dr.) Emin," and dated March 26th. 

The nex day, April 23d, Mr. Jephson was dispatched with a strong force 
of men to take the boat to the Nyanza. On the 26th the boat's crew 
sighted Mswa station, the southernmost belonging to Emin Pasha, and 
Mr. Jephson was there hospitably received by the Egyptian garrison. 
The boat's crew say that they were embraced one by one, and that they 
never had such attention shown to them as by these men, who hailed 
them as brothers. 

On the 29th of April we once again reached the bivouac ground occu- 
pied by us on the i6th of December, and at 5 p. m. of that day I saw the 
(742) 



STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA. "74^ 

Khedive steamer about seven miles away steaming up toward us. Soon 
after 7 p. m. Emin Pasha and Signor Cassati and Mr. Jephson arrived at 
our camp, where they were heartily welcomed by all of us. 

The next day we moved to a better camping-place, about three miles 
above Nyamsassie, and at this spot Emin Pasha also made his camp ; we 
were together until the 25th of May. On that day I left him, leaving 
Mr. Jephson, three Soudanese, and two Zanzibaris in his care, and in 
return he caused to accompany me three of his irregulars and one hun- 
dred and two Mahdi natives as porters. 

"Only Sixteen Men Out of Fifty-six." 

Fourteen days later I was at Fort Bodo. At the fort were Captain 
Nelson and Lieutenant Stairs. The latter had returned from Ugarrowwa's 
twenty-two days after I had set out for the lake, April 2d, bringing with 
him, alas ! only sixteen men out of fifty-six. All the rest were dead. 
My twenty couriers whom I had sent with letters to Major Barttelot had 
safely left Ugarrowwa's for Yambuya on March i6th. 

Fort Bodo was in a flourishing state. Nearly ten acres were under 
cultivation. One crop of Indian corn had been harvested, and was in 
the granaries; they had just commenced planting again. 

On the i6th of June I left Fort Bodo with a hundred and eleven Zan- 
zibaris and a hundred and one of Emin Pasha's people. Lieutenant 
Stairs had been appointed commandant of the fort. Nelson second in 
command, and Surgeon Parke medical officer. The garrison consisted 
of fifty-nine rifles. I had thus deprived myself of all my officers in order 
that I should not be encumbered with baggage and provisions and medi- 
cines, which would have to be taken if accompanied by Europeans, and 
every carrier was necessary for the vast stores left with Major Barttelot. 
On the 24th of June we reached Kilonga-Longa's, and July 19th Ugar- 
rowwa's. The latter station was deserted. Ugarrowwa, having gathered 
as much ivory as he could obtain from that district, had proceeded down 
river about three months before. On leaving Fort Bodo I had loaded 
every carrier with about sixty pounds of corn, so that we had been able 
to pass through the wilderness unscathed. 

Passing on down the river as fast as we could go, daily expecting to 
meet the couriers who had been stimulated to exert themselves for a 
reward of ten pounds per head, or the Major himself leading an army of 
carriers, we indulged ourselves in these pleasing anticipations as we 
neared the goal. 

On the loth of August we overtook Ugarrowwa with an immense flo- 
tilla of fifty-seven canoes, and to our wonder our couriers now reduced 



744 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

to seventeen. They related an awful story of hair-breadth escapes and 
tragic scenes. Three of their number had been slain, two were still 
feeble from their wounds, all except five bore on their bodies the scars 
of arrow wounds. 

A week later, on August 17th, we met the rear column of the expedi- 
tion at a place called Bunalya, or, as the Arabs have corrupted it 
Unarya. There was a white man at the gate of the stockade whom I at 
first though was Mr. Jamieson, but a nearer view revealed the features 
of Mr. Bonny, who left the medical service of the army to accompany 
us. 

" Well, my dear Bonny, where is the Major?" 

" He is dead, sir ; shot by the Manyuema about a month ago." 

" Good God ! And Mr. Jamieson ?" 

" He has gone to Stanley Falls to try and get some more men from 
Tipo-tipo." 

" And Mr. Troup." 

" Mr. Troup has gone home, sir, invalided." 

" Hem ! well, where is Ward ?" 

" Mr. Ward is at Bangala, sir." 

" Heavens alive ! then you are the only one here ?" 

" Yes, sir." 

I found the rear column a terrible wreck. Out of two hundred and 
fifty-seven men there were only seventy-one remaining. Out of seventy- 
one only fifty-two on mustering them, seemed fit for service, and these 
mostly were scarecrows. The advance had performed the march from 
Yambuya to Bunalya in sixteen days, despite native opposition. The 
rear column performed the same distance in forty-three days. Accord- 
ing to Mr. Bonny, during the thirteen months and twenty days that had 
elapsed since I had left Yambuya, the record is only one of disaster^ 
desertion, and death. I have not the heart to go into the details, many 
of which are incredible, and, indeed, I have not the time, for, excepting- 
Mr. Bonny, I have no one to assist me in re-organizing the expedition. 
Stanley Reported Dead. 

There are still far more loads than I can carry, at the same time articles 
needful are missing. For instance, I left Yambuya with only a short 
campaigning kit, leaving my reserve of clothing and personal effects in 
charge of the officers. In December some deserters from the advance 
column reached Yambuya to spread the report that I was dead. They 
had no papers with them, but the officers seemed to accept the report of 
these deserters as a fact, and in January Mr. Ward, at an officers' mess 




(745) 



746 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

meeting, proposed that my instructions should be canceled. The only 
one who appears to have dissented was Mr. Bonny. Accordingly, my 
personal kit, medicines, soap, candles, and provisions were sent down the 
Congo as " superfluities !" Thus, after making this immense personal 
sacrifice to relieve them and cheer them up, I find myself naked and 
deprived of even the necessaries of life in Africa. But, strange to say, 
they have kept two hats and four pairs of boots, a flannel jacket, and I 
propose to go back to Emin Pasha and across Africa with this truly 
African kit. Livingstone, poor fellow, was all in patches when I met 
him, but it will be the reliever himself who will be in patches this time. 
Fortunately, not one of my officers will envy me, for their kits are in- 
tact — it was only myself that was dead. 

I pray you to say that we w^re only eighty-two days from the Albert 
Lake to Banalya, and sixty-one from Fort Bodo. The distance is not 
very great — it is the people who fail one. Going to Nyanza we felt as 
though we had the tedious task of dragging them ; on returning each 
man knew the road, and did not need any stimulus. Between the Nyanza 
and here we only lost three men — one of which was by desertion. I 
brought a hundred and thirty-one Zanzibaris here, and left fifty-nine at 
Fort Bodo, total one hundred and ninety men out of three hundred and 
eighty-nine ; loss, fifty per cent. 

Immense Loss of Men. 

At Yambuya I left two hundred and fifty-seven men, there are only 
seventy-one left, ten of whom will never leave this camp — loss over two 
hundred and seventy per»cent. This proves that, though the sufferings 
of the advance were unprecedented, the mortality was not so great as in 
camp at Yambuya. The survivors of the march are all robust, while the 
survivors of the rear column are thin and most unhealthy-looking. 

I have thus rapidly sketched out our movements since June 28th, 1S87. 
I wish I had the leisure to furnish more details, but I cannot find the time. 
I write this amid the hurry and bustle of departure, and amid constant 
interruptions. You wilj, however, have gathered from this letter an idea 
of the nature of the country traversed by us. We were a hundred and 
sixty days in the forest — one continuous, unbroken, compact forest. 
The grass-land was traversed by us in eight days. The limits of the 
forest along the edge of the grass-land are well marked. We saw it 
extending northeasterly, with its curves and bays and capes just like a 
sea-shore. Southwesterly it preserved the same character. North and 
south the forest area extends from Nyangwe to the southern borders of 
the Monbuttu ; east and west it embraces all from the Congo, at the 



STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA. 



747 



mouth of the Aruwimi, to about east longitude 29°-40°. How far west 
beyond the Congo the forest reaches I do not know. The superficial 
extent of the tract thus described — totally covered by forest — is two 
hundred and forty-six thousand square miles. North of the Congo, 
between Upoto and the Aruwimi, the forest embraces another twenty 
thousand square miles. 

Between Yambuya and the Nyanza we came across five distinct lan- 
guages. The last is that which is spoken by the Wanyoro, Wan- 




SKIRMISH DRILL OF KAFFIR WARRIORS. 

yankori, Wanya, Ruanda, Wahha, and people of Karangwe and Ukerewe. 
The land slopes gently from the crest of the plateau above the Nyanza 
down to the Congo River from an altitude of five thousand five hundred 
feet to one thousand four hundred feet above the sea. North and south 
of our track through the grass-land the face of the land was much broken 
by groups of cones or isolated mounts or ridges. North we saw no land 
higher than about six thousand feet above the sea, but bearing two hun- 
dred and fifteen degrees magnetic, at the distance of about fifty miles 
from our camp on the Nyanza, we saw a towering mountain, its summit 



7*48 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

covered with snow, and probably seventeen or eighteen thousand feet 
above the sea. It is called Ruevenzori, and will probably prove a rival 
to Kilimanjaro. I am not sure that it may not prove to be the Gordon 
Bennett Mountain in Gambaragara, but there are two reasons for doubt- 
ing it to be the same — first, it is a little too far west for the position of 
the latter as given by me in 1876; and, secondly, we saw no snow on 
the Gordon Bennett. I might mention a third, which is that the latter is 
a perfect cone apparently, while the Ruevenzori is an oblong mount, 
nearly level on the summit, with two ridges extending northeast and 
southwest. 

I have met only three natives who have seen the lake toward the 
south. They agree that it is large, but not so large as the Albert 
Nyanza. 

The Aruwimi becomes known as the Suhali about one hundred miles 

above Yambuya; as it nears the Nepoko it is called the Nevoa; beyond 

its confluence with the Nepoko it is known as the No-Welle; three 

hundred miles from the Congo it is called the Itiri, which is soon 

changed into the Ituri, which name it retains to its source. Ten 

minutes' march from the Ituri waters we saw the Nyanza, like a mirror 

in its immense gulf 

Wliat Shall toe Done? 

Before closing my letter let me touch more at large on the subject 
which brought me to this land — viz., Emin Pasha. 

The Pasha has two battalions of regulars under him — the first, con- 
sisting of about seven Tiundred and fifty rifles, occupies Duffle, Honyu, 
Lahore, Muggi, Kirri, Bedden, Rejaf ; the second battalion, consisting 
of six hundred and forty men, guard the stations of Wadelai, Fatiko,. 
Mahagi, and Mswa, a line of communication along the Nyanza and Nile 
about one hundred and eighty miles in length. In the interior west of 
the Nile he retains three or four s'mall stations — fourteen in all. Besides 
these two battallions he has quite a respectable force of irregulars, sailors, 
artisans, clerks, servants. "Altogether," he said, "if I consent to go 
away from here we shall have about eight thousand people with us." , 

" Were I in your place I would not hesitate one moment or be a 
second in doubt what to do." 

" What you say is quite true, but we have such a large number of 
women and children, probably ten thousand people altogether. How 
can they all be brought out of here ? We shall want a great number of 
carriers," 

" Carriers ! carriers for what," I asked. 



STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA. 



749 



" For the women and children. You surely would not leave them, 
and they cannot travel ? " 

" The women must walk. It will do them more good than harm. 
As for the little children, load them on the donkeys. I hear you have 




EXIRAORDINARY FOREST GROWTHS IN AFRICA. 

about two hundred of them. Your people will not travel very far the 
first month, but litttle by little they will get accustomed to it. Our Zan- 
zibar women crossed Africa on my second expedition. Why cannot 
your black women do the same ? Have no fear of them ; they will do 
better than the men." 



750 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" They would require a vast amount of provision for the road." 

" True, but you have some thousands of cattle, I believe. Those will 
furnish beef The country through which we pass must furnish grain 
and vegetable food." 

" Well, well, we will defer further talk till to-morrow." 
Planning to Remove. 

May I St, 1888. — Halt in camp at Nsabe. The Pasha came ashore 
from the steamer " Khedive " obout i p. m., and in a short time we com- 
menced our conversation again. Many of the arguments used above 
were repeated, and he said : 

" What you told me yesterday has led me to think it is best we should 
retire from here. The Egyptians are very willing to leave. There are of 
these about one hundred men, besides their women and children. Of these 
there is no doubt, and even if I stayed here I should be glad to be rid of 
them, because they undermine my authority and nullify all my endeavors 
for retreat. When I informed them that Khartoum had fallen and Gor- 
don Pasha was slain, they always told the Nubians that it was a concoc- 
ted story, that some day we should see the steamers ascend the river for 
their relief But of the regulars who compose the first and second bat- 
talions I am extremely doubtful ; they have led such a free and happy 
life here that they would demur at leaving a country where they have 
enjoyed luxuries they cannot command in Egypt. 

" The soldiers are married, and several of them have harems. Many of 
the irregulars would also retire and follow me. Now, supposing tke reg- 
ulars refuse to leave," you can imagine that my position would be a diffi- 
cult one. Would I be right in leaving them to their fate ? Would it not 
be consigning them all to ruin ? I should have to leave them their arms 
and ammunition, and on returning all discipline would be at an end. 
Disputes would arise, and factions would be formed. The more ambi- 
tious would aspire to be chiefs by force, and from these rivalries would 
spring hate and mutual slaughter until there would be none of them 
left." 

" Supposing you resolve to stay, what of the Egyptians ? " I asked. 

" Oh ! these I shall have to ask you to be good enough to take 
with you." 

" Now, will you, Pasha, do me the favor to ask Captain Casati if we are 
to have the pleasure of his company to the sea, for we have been 
instructed to assist him also should we meet ? " 

Captain Casati answered through Emin Pasha : 

" What the Governor Emin decides upon shall be the rule of conduct 



STANLEY FINDS EMIN PASHA. 751 

for me also. If the Governor stays, I stay. If the Governor goes, I 

go- 

" Well, I see. Pasha, that in the event of your staying your responsi- 
bilities will be great." 

A laugh. The sentence was translated to Casati, and the gallant Cap- 
tain replied : ' 

" Oh ! I beg pardon, but I absolve the Pasha from all responsibility 
connected with me, because I am governed by my own choice entirely." 

Thus day after day I recorded faithfully the interviews I had with 
Emin Pasha; but these extracts reveal as much as is necessary for you 
to understand the position. I left Mr. Jephson thirteen of my Soudanese, 
and sent a message to be read to the troops, as the Pasha requested. 
Everything else is left until I return with the united expedition to the 
Nyanza. 

Within two months the Pasha proposed to visit Fort Bodo, taking Mr. 
Jephson with him. At Fort Bodo I have left instructions to the officers 
to destroy the fort and accompany the Pasha to the Nyanza. I hope to 
meet them all again on the Nyanza, as I intend making a short cut to the 
Nyanza along a new road. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 
STANLEY IN THE BOUNDLESS FOREST. 

The Route Taken by Stanley— A March Beset by Fatal Perils— Death Thins the 
Ranks — Bushes and Creepers —Most Extensive Forest Region in Africa — One 
Hundred and Sixty Days in the Dense Woods — Loyal Blacks — Insects and 
Monkeys — Dwarfs and Poisoned Arrows^— Gloom by Day and Frightful Darkness 
by Night — Sources of Moisture— Wild and Savage Aborigines — Short-lived 
Vision of Beauty — Light at Last — The Expedition in Raptures at the Sight of 
Green Fields — Scene on a Derby Day— Wild With Delight — A Leprous Out- 
cast — " Beauty and the Beast " — News of a Powerful Tribe — Frantic Multitude — 
Fowls Plucked and Roasted — Skeletons Getting Fat — Back and Forth on the 
Banks of the Aruwimi — Emin Pasha — " See, Sir, What a Big Mountain" — Lake 
Albert Nyanza — Important Discoveries. 

TANLEY'S narrative in the preceding chapters shows that he 
entered the Dark Continent from the mouth of the Congo on the 
west coast, sailed up that river and finally entered its tributary, 
the Aruwimi. There he established a station and proceeded over- 
land with the object of reaching Wadelai, where Emin Pasha was sup- 
posed to be located. A reference to the -map of Central Africa, which 
the reader has already had an opportunity of scanning, will show the 
route that he took after Jeaving the river Aruwimi. It was in this part 
of the journey especially that the greatest obstacles and dangers were 
encountered. From the following narrative, related with all of Mr. 
Stanley's masterly power, it seems surprising that any persons con- 
nected with the expedition escaped with their lives. The bold ex- 
plorers were beset by every kind of difficulty and peril. Death thinned 
the ranks of the party, starvation threatened them, and it was only 
with the greatest perseverance and courage, combined with painful 
privations, that the final object was attained. Mr. Stanley's account is as 
follows : 

Until we penetrated and marched through it, this region was entirely 
unexplored and untrodden by either white or Arab. AThe difficulties 
consisted of creepers ranging from one-eighth inch to fifteen inches in 
diameter, swinging across the path in bowlines or loops, sometimes 
massed and twisted together ; also of a low dense bush, occupying the 
sites of old clearings, which had to be carved through before a passage 
was possible, Where years had elapsed since the clearings had been 
(752) 



STANLEY IN THE BOUNDLESS FOREST. 753 

abandoned, we found a young forest and the spaces between the trees 
choked with climbing plants, vegetable creepers and tall plants. This 
kind had to be tunnelled through before an inch of progress could be 
made. The region traversed by us is probably the most extensive 
forest region in all Africa, a region, moreover, resembling in many 
respects the tropical forest region of South America. 

While in England, considering the best routes open to the Nyanza 
(Albert), I thought I was very liberal in allowing myself two weeks' 
march to cross the forest region lying between the Congo and the grass 
land, but you may imagine our feelings when month after month saw us 
marching, tearing, plowing, cutting through that same continuous forest. 
It took us one hundred and sixty days before we could say, " Thank 
God, we are out of the darkness at last." At one time we were all — 
whites and blacks — almost " done up." September, October, and half of 
that month of November, 1887, will not be forgotten by us. 

Battling- witli Deatli. 

October will be specially memorable to us for the sufferings we 
endured. Our officers are heartily sick of the forest, but the loyal 
blacks, a band of one hundred and thirty, followed me once again into 
the wild, trackless forest, with its hundreds of inconveniences, to assist 
their comrades of the rear column. Try and imagine some of these 
mconveniences. Take a thick Scottish copse, dripping with rain ; 
imagine this copse to be a mere undergrowth, nourished under the 
impenetrable shades of ancient trees, ranging from one hundred to one 
hundred and eighty feet high ; briers and thorns abundant ; lazy creeks, 
meandering through the depths of the jungle, and sometimes a deep 
affluent of a great river. Imagine this forest and jungle in all stages of 
decay and growth — old trees falling, leaning perilously over, fallen pros- 
trate ; ants and insects of all kinds, sizes, and colors murmuring around; 
monkeys and chimpanzees above, queer noises of birds and animals, 
crashes in the jungle as troops of elephants rush away; dwarfs with 
poisoned arrows securely hidden behind some buttress or in some dark 
recess ; strong brown-bodied aborigines with terribly sharp spears, stand- 
ing poised, still as dead stumps; rain pattering down on you every other 
day in the year; an impure atmosphere, with its dread consequences, 
fever and dysentery ; gloom throughout the day, and darkness almost 
palpable throughout the night; and then, if you will imagine such a 
forest extending the entire distance from Plymouth to Peterhead, you 
will have a fair idea of some of the inconveniences endured by us from 
June 28th to December 5th, 1887, and from June ist, 1888, to the present 

48 



754 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

date, to continue again from the present date till about December loth, 
1888, when I hope to say a last farewell to the Congo Forest. 
A Desolate Wilderness. 

Now that we have gone through and through this forest region, I 
only feel a surprise that I did not give a greater latitude to my ideas 
respecting its extent ; for had we thought of it, it is only what might 
have been deduced from our knowledge of the great sources of moisture 
necessary to supply the forest with the requisite sap and vitality. Think 
of the large extent of the South Atlantic Ocean, whose vapors are blown 
during nine months of the year in this direction. Think of the broad 
Congo, varying from one to sixteen miles wide, which has a stretch of 
one thousand four hundred miles, supplying another immeasurable quan- 
tity of moisture, to be distilled into rain, and mist, and dew, over this 
insatiable forest ; and then another six hundred miles of the Aruwimi or 
Ituri itself, and then you will cease to wonder that there are about one 
hundred and fifty days of rain every year in this region, and that the 
Congo Forest covers such a wide area. 

Until we set foot on the grass land, something like fifty miles west of 
the Albert Nyanza, we saw nothing that looked like a smile, or a kind 
thought, or a moral sensation. The aborigines are wild, utterly savage, 
and incorrigibly vindictive. The dwarfs — called Wambutti — are worse 
still, far worse. Animal life is likewise so wild and shy that no sport is 
to be enjoyed. The gloom of the forest is perpetual. The face of the 
river, reflecting its blaclj walls of vegetation, is dark and sombre. The 
sky one-half of the time every day resembles a winter sky in England ; 
the face of Nature and life is fixed and joyless. If the sun charges 
through the black clouds enveloping it and a kindly wind brushes the 
masses of vapor below the horizon, and the bright light reveals our sur- 
roundings, it is only to tantalize us with a short-lived vision of brilliancy 
and beauty of verdure. 

liiglit at Last! 

Emerging from the forest, finally, we all became enraptured. Like a 
captive unfettered and set free, we rejoiced at sight of the blue cope of 
heaven, and freely bathed in the warm sunshine, and aches and gloomy 
thoughts and unwholesome ideas were banished. You have heard how 
the London citizen, after months of devotion to business in the gaseous 
atmosphere in that great city, falls into raptures at sight of the green 
fields and hedges, meadows and trees, and how his emotions, crowding 
on his dazed senses, are indescribable. Indeed, I have seen a Derby day 
once, and I fancied then that I only saw madmen, for great, bearded, 




\ . 



"*^ 

















(755) 



756 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

hoary-headed fellows, though well dressed enough, behaved in a most 

idiotic fashion, amazing me quite. Well, on this 5th of December we 

became suddenly smitten with madness in the same manner. Had you 

seen us you would have thought we had lost our senses, or that 

".Legion " had entered and taken possession of us. We raced with our 

loads over a wide, unfenced field (like an English park for the softness of 

its grass), and herds of buffalo, eland, roan antelope, stood on either hand 

with pointed ears and wide eyes, wondering at the sudden wave of human 

beings, yelling with joy, as they issued out of the dark depths of the 

forest. 

A Leprous Outcast. 

On the confines of this forest, near a village which was rich in sugar 
cane, ripe bananas, tobacco, Indian corn, and other productions of abo- 
riginal husbandry, we came across an ancient woman lying asleep. I 
believe she was a leper and an outcast, but she was undoubtedly ugly, 
vicious, and old; and, being old, she was obstinate. I practised all kinds 
of seductive arts to get her to do something besides crossly mumbling, 
but of no avail. Curiosity having drawn toward us about a hundred of 
our people, she fastened fixed eyes on one young fellow (smooth-faced 
and good-looking), and smiled. I caused him to sit near her, and she 
became voluble enough — beauty and youth had tamed the " beast." From 
her talk we learned that there was a powerful tribe, called the Banzanza, 
with a great king, to the northeast of our camp, of whom we might be 
well afraid, as the people were as numerous as grass. Had we learned 
this ten days earlier, I might have become anxious for the result, but it 
now only drew a contemptuous smile from the people, for each one, since 
he had seen the grass land and evidences of meat, had been transformed 
into a hero. 

We poured out on the plain a frantic multitude, but after an hour or 
two we became an orderly column. Into the emptied villages of the open 
country we proceeded, to regale ourselves on melon, rich-flavored bananas 
and plantains, and great pots full of wine. The fowls, unaware of the 
presence of a hungry mob, were knocked down, plucked, roasted, or 
boiled ; the goats, meditatively browsing, or chewing the cud, were sud- 
denly seized and decapitated, and the grateful aroma of roast meat grati- 
fied our senses. An abundance, a prodigal abundance, of good things, 
had awaited our eruption into the grass land. Every village was well 
stocked with provisions, and even luxuries long denied to us. Under 
such fare the men became most robust, diseases healed as if by magic, 
the weak became strong, and there was not a goee-goee or chicken-heart. 



STANLEY IN THE BOUNDLESS FOREST. 757 

left. Only the Babusesse, near the main Ituri, were tempted to resist the 

invasion. 

A Great River. 

The main Ituri, at the distance of six hundred and eighty miles from 
its mouth, is one hundred and twenty-five yards wide, nine feet deep, and 
has a current of three knots. It appears to run parallel with the Nyanza. 
Near that group of cones and hills affectionately named Mount Schwein- 
furth, Mount Junker, and Mount Speke, I would place its highest source. 
Draw three or four respectable streams draining into it from the crest of 
the plateau overlooking the Albert Nyanza, and two or three respectable 
streams flowing into it from northwesterly, let the main stream flow 
southwest to near north latitude i°,give it a bow-like form north latitude 
1° to north latitude i° 50', then let it flow with curves and bends down 
to north latitude i° 17' near Yambunya, and you have a sketch of the 
course of the Aruwimi, or Ituri, from the highest source down to its 
mouth, and the length of this Congo tributary will be eight hundred 
miles. We have traveled on it and along its banks for six hundred and 
eighty miles ; on our first march to the Nyanza for one hundred and 
flfty-six miles along its banks or near its vicinity ; we returned to obtain 
•our boat from Kilonga-Longa's ; then we conveyed the boat to the 
Nyanza for as many miles again ; for four hundred and eighty miles we 
traversed its flanks or voyaged on its waters to hunt up the rear column 
of the expedition ; for as many miles we must retrace our steps to the 
Albert Nyanza for the third time. You will, therefore, agree with me 
that we have sufficient knowledge of this river for all practical purposes. 

On the 25th of May, 1888, Emin Pasha's Soudanese were drawn up in 

line to salute the advancing column as it marched in file toward the Ituri 

River from the Nyanza. Half an hour after we parted. I was musing 

as I walked of the Pasha and his steamer when my gun-bearer cried out, 

" See, sir, what a big mountain ; it is covered with salt !" I gazed in 

the direction he pointed out, and there sure enough — 

"Some blue peaks in the distance rose, 
And white against the cold white sky 
Shone out the crowning snows : " 

or, rather, to be sure, a blue mountain of prodigious height and mass. 
This, then, said I, must be the Ruwenzori, which the natives said had 
something white, like the rrietal of my lamp, on the top. 
WMte-capped Mountain. 
I should estimate its distance to be quite fifty miles from where we 
stood. Whether it is Mount Gordon Bennett or not I am uncertain. 



758 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Against the supposition is the fact that I saw no snow on the latter in 
1876, that its shape is vastly different, and that Ruwenzori is a little toO' 
far west for the position I gave of Gordon Bennett, and I doubt that 
Gordon Bennett Mount, if its latitude is correct, could be seen from a 
distance of eighty geographical miles in an atmosphere not very remark- 
able for its clearness. I should say that the snow line seemed to be 
about one thousand feet from the summit. There is plenty of room for 
both Ruwenzori and Gordon Bennett in the intervening space between 
Beatrice Gulf and the Albert Nyanza. 

At the south and southwest of the Albert Nyanza there is no mystery. 
A century (or perhaps more) ago, the lake must have been some twelve 
or fifteen miles longer, and considerably broader opposite Mbakovia thart 
it is now. With the wearing away of reefs obstructing the Nile below 
Wadelai, the lake has rapidly receded, and is still doing so to the aston- 
ment of the Pasha (Emin), who first saw Lake Albert seven or eight 
years. For, he says, " islands that were near the west shore have now 
become headlands occupied by our stations and native villages." 

Across the lake from Nyamsassie to Mbakovia, its color indicates^ 
great shallowness, being brown and muddy like that of a river flowing 
through alluvial soil. Some of this must, of course, be due to the Sem- 
liki River, but while on board the Khedive steamer from Nyamsassie to 
Nsabi, I noticed that the pole of the sounding-man at the bow constantly 
touched from a mile to a mile and a half from shore. Near the south- 
end the steamer has to anchor about five miles from shore. 
important Discoveries. 

At the southwest end, the plain rises from the edge of the lake one 
foot in one hundred and eighty feet. The plain of the south end rises at 
the same rate for about ten miles. A slight change then takes place as 
the eastern and western walls of the table-land draw nearer, and dcbris^ 
from their slopes, washed by rains and swept by strong winds, humus of 
grass and thorn forest, have added to its height above the lakc.- 
Natives say that south of this the plain slopes steeply to the level of the 
uplands. A shoulder of the western wall prevented us from verifying, 
this, and still beyond must be left until we take our journey homeward.- 

I look upon this country lying between the Albert Nj-anza and the 
lake discovered by me in 1876 as promising curious revelations. Up to 
this moment I am not certain to which river the last lake belongs — 
whether to the Nile or the Congo. I believe to the latter, but what I ans. 
sure of is that it has no connection with the Albert Nyanza. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 

The Explorer Again Lost — Long and Painful Suspense— Welcome Despatch from 
Zanzibar— Wonderful March— Conspicuous Bravery— Stanley's Tlinllmg Storv — 
Murder of Major Barttelot — Mission Church — "Outskirts of l!les>ed Cuiliza 
tion" — Vivid Word-painting — Stanley's Letter to a Friend — Movenier.ts c f Jepii- 
son — Stanley's History of His Journey— Letter to the Chairman of the Fni n Re- 
lief Fund — Rear Column in a Deplorable State — Land Man li Begun- Gathtiirg 
Stores for the March — Sniall pox— Terrible Murtalit}- — Bridging a Kiver — Cialty 
and Hostile Dwarfs — TracVs of Elephants — Fighting Starvation — Stanley Relurrs 
to Find the Missing Men — Making Friends with the Natives— Startling Letter 
from Jephson — Emin a Prisoner — The Insurgents Reach Lado — Emiti's Followers 
Like Rats in a Trap -Stanley's Arrival Anxiously Awaited — Eiiiin Clincfs to His 
Province— Stanley's Letter to Jephson— Absurd Indecision— Letter from Rmin — 
Desperate Situation — Emin's Noble Traits — Stanley's Letter to Mar^ton — Recital 
of Thrilling Events. 

^'^^FTER Mr. Stanley sent us the account of the first part of his 

\^ J journey contained in the preceding chapters, he was again lost 

to the world. There was silence for many months ; atid there 

was also anxious speculation concerning his fate, and many fears 

that he and all others in his brave band had perished in the murky wilds 

of the Congo. The long and painful suspense was finally broken. 

On October 24th, 1889, a cable dispatch was received from Captain 
Wissmann, Imperial Commissioner of Germany to East Africa, stating 
that reliable news had been received concerning Emin Pasha and Henry 
M. Stanley, Signor Casati and six Englishmen. They were*aU expected 
to afrive at Mpwapwa at the latter part of November. 

This dispatch was supplemented soon after by the following : 

London, Nov. 4. — Mr. Mackinnon, the head of the Emin Relief. Com- 
mittee, has received a dispatch from Henry M. Stanley. 

The explorer says : " I reached the Albert Nyanza from Banalaya, for 
the third time, in 140 days, and found that Emin and Jephson had both 
been prisoners since the i8th of August, 1888, being the day after I made 
the discovery that Barttelot's caravan had been wrecked. 

" The troops in the Equatorial Province had revolted and .shaken off 
all allegiance. Shortly after the Mahdists invaded the province in full 
force. 

" After the first battle in May the stations yielded and a panic .struck 

(759) 



760 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

the natives, who joined the invaders and assisted in the work of destruc- 
tion. 

" The invaders subsequently suffered reverses, and dispatched a steamer 
to Khartoum for reinforcements. 

" I found a letter waiting for me near the Albert Nyanza exposing the 
dangerous position of the survivors and urging the immediate necessity 
of my arrival before the end of December, otherwise it would be too 
late. 

" I arrived there on the l8th of January for the third time. From the 
14th of February to the 8th of May I waited for the fugitives, and then 
left the Albert Nyanza homeward bound." 

This piece of news, assuring the world of Stanley's safety, was wel- 
comed with acclamations, and further intelligence from the heroic 
explorer was eagerly awaited. It soon came, and before we present to 
the reader the graphic letters from Stanley and Emin, giving a full 
account of the expedition, we give an outline of the wonderful march. 
This march was beset by all manner of dangers, and only the most 
daring bravery and perseverance — a bravery that did not count life dear 
— could ever have brought the gallant band of travelers to the light of 
civilization. 

The Tlnilling Story. 

Mr. Stanley and his companions have now, to use his own words, 
"reached the outskirts of blessed civilization," and tne complete narrative 
of the marvellous journey shows that in perils overcome, in labors and 
privations endured, in adventures with savage foes, and in brilliant discov- 
eries, this journey stands unparalleled and alone. Mr. Stanley writes to 
his friend, Mr. Marston, andto the Emin Pasha Relief Committee; Emin 
writes to his old friend Dr. Schweinfurth. Mr. Stanley's letters are of the 
greatest interest. Emin Pasha's eyesight will not allow him to write 
much, and there is a pathetic allusion to it in the exclamation in which 
he abruptly concludes. Mr. Stanley writes with his accustomed vivacity 
and in his accustomed good spirits. 

Stanley's letters and Emin's take up the story of the march and rescue 
from the point at which it was left in the letters published earlier in 1889, 
and contained in the foregoing chapters. Stanley marched from Yam- 
buya on the Aruwimi to his first meeting with Emin at the Albert Nyanza. 
After a fortnight's rest, he returned from the Albert Nyanza to his start- 
ing-point, to collect his rear-guard and stores, only to find that Major 
Barttelot had been murdered in his absence, and that the station was 
little better than a ruin. His letters published in April, 1889, were 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 761 

written under the influence of this sore discouragement, and when he 
was setting forward again to effect his junction with Emin for the last 
lime. During his absence, disaster had overtaken Emin, as it previously 
•overtook Major Barttelot, and Stanley arrived at the very moment to 
save the German explorer from utter ruin. His arrival on this occasion 
at the Albert Nyanza marks, as he reminds us, his third journey across a 
terrible region^a region of well-nigh impenetrable forest, peopled with 
the dwarfs and cannibals previously described. He made one journey to 
the Albert to discover Emin ; a second journey back to Yambuya ; a 
third, and last one, forward to the Albert once more, to save Emin's life. 
His present letters, after recapitulating some of the particulars 
of the earlier ones, take up the story of the march, from the 
period of the second junction with Emin. One is writen from the Vic- 
toria Nyanza on the 3d September, 1889. The travellers were then well 
-advanced on their journey towards the East Coast. They had travelled 
many hundreds of miles to the southern shore of the larger lake, and they 
Tiad at length seen a mission church, surmounted by a cross, which 
showed them that they had " reached the outskirts of blessed civiliza- 
tion." 

Stanley's Vivid "Word-painting-. 

Mr. Stanley is delightfully himself in the letter to Mr. Marston. 
He writes of the ages that have gone by since they met, and of 
the " daily thickening barrier of silence " that has crept between 
them in the meanwhile. A man who is writing from the heart 
of Africa is, in a sense, as one who is writing from the dead. It must 
seem to him as though he had passed the portals, and had joined those 
literary characters who spend their time in inditing "letters from the 
other world." How hard to think of the ordered bustle of city life as 
common to the same sphere with " vicious, man-eating savages, and 
crafty undersized men " of the forest glades. Civilization seen from 
that standpoint must seem always unreal, and sometimes positively gro- 
tesque. 

The writer settles down to his narrative, and soon we hear of his 
second meeting with Emin, and of his terrible illness, which combined 
with the delays in collecting Emin's scattered force to retard their setting 
forth. For twenty-eight days Stanley lay helpless, and at one tirpe he 
lay at the point of death. Then, little by little, he gathered strength, 
-and ordered the march for home. There are touches in this letter which, 
■even if the handwriting were another's, would be conclusive to Stanley's 
authorship. The sterner man of his strange complex personality is to 



762 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

be traced in the quiet saying, " There is a virtue, you know, in striving- 
unyieldingly." And it is enough to make us doubt whether all the 
honor thrust upon him will efface memories of horrors by which he is 
alternatly " hardened " and " unmanned." 

Eniiu's Stranj?c Indecision. 

The letter to the ICmin Pasha Relief Committee is nearly a month 
earlier in date than the letter to Mr. Marston. It abounds, however, in 
the most precious details of the meeting with Emin. Like everything 
that Mr. Stanley wiites, it is rich in the picturesque. It paints a man as 
well as a situation. It shows us how Eniin's irresolution, his difficulty in 
making up his mind to a yea or a nay on the question of quitting his 
post — already reaiarked by Mr. Stanley after their first meeting — had at 
length been conquered by circumstances. When Mr. Stanley after 
incrcd.ble hard-hips again neared the Albert, it was only to learn, from 
secret letters of Mr. Jephson — himself under surveillance — of the irruption 
of the Mahdists, the treachery of Emin's troops, and the captivity of 
their leader. Stanley's men had passed through frightful perils on the way 
— hostile dwarfs, small-pox, starvation, over-feeding, and death — only for 
their leader to receive this cold comfort at last. " I trust you will arrive 
before the Mahdists are reinforced, or our case will be desperate," wrote 
Mr. Jephson in conclusion. All Stanley, or at any rate all the heroic 
Stanley of the African wilds, comes out in the answer. He tells Jephson 
to obey him, and to let his orders be to him " as a frontlet between the 
eyes," and all will yet end well. 

Finally, when Stanley has made all the depositions which this new and 
terrible conjuncture seems to demand, a letter reaches his camp to 
announce that Emin, with two steameis full of fugitives, is at anchor just 
below. It might be a letter of surrender from a certain sadness in its 
tone. So indeed it is, and we honor the writer all the more for it. Emin 
has surrendered all the bright hopes which have buoyed him up through 
all his years of toil, hardship, and danger, and he has given the Soudan 
back to barbarism. If he had been less^than sad on such an occasion, 
he would have been less than the man he is. When Mr. Stanley reviews 
all the circumstances, he will surely see that Emin's irresolution was 
but a foim of his genius for self-sacrifice and his devotion to a great 
object. It will be to Emin's eternal honor that he did not leave the 
Soudan till he was driven out of it, and that he clung to his charge till 
all his strength was gone. It is difficult to know which to admire the 
more, the rescued or the rescuer. Two such spirits, when they are 
seen together in one enterprise, stimulate our pride in the entire race. 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 763 

We trust the foregoing comments will lend an added interest to the 
following graphic narrative from Mr. Stanley's own pen. It is addressed 
to W. Mackinnon, Esq., of London. 

Kafurro, Arab Settlement, 

Karagwe, August 5th, 1889. 
To the Chair) nan of the Eniin Pasha Relief Fund. 

Sir: — My last report to you was sent off by Salim bin Mohammed in 
the early part of September, 1888. Over a yearful of stirring events for 
this part of the world have taken place since then, and I will endeavor in 
this and other following letters to inform you of what has occurred. 

Having gathered such as were left of the rear column, and such Man- 
yemas as were willing of their own accord to accompany me, and entirely- 
reorganized the expedition, we set off on our return to the Nyanza, 
You will doubtless remember that Mr. Mounteney Jephson had been left 
with Emin Pasha to convey my message to the Egyptian troops, and 
that on or about the 26th of July both 'Emin Pasha and Mr. Jephson 
were to start from the Nyanza, with a sufficient escort and a number of 
porters to conduct the officers and garrison of Fort Bodo to a new sta- 
tion that was to be erected near Kavallis, on the south-west side of Lake 
Albert, by which I should be relieved of the necessity ot making a fourth 
trip to Fort Bodo. Promise for promise had been made, for on my part 
I had solemnly promised that I should hurry towards Yambuya and 
hunt up the missing rear column, and be back again on Lake Albert 
some time about Christmas. 

I have already told you that the rear column was in a deplorable state,.' 
that out of the 102 members remaining I doubted whether fifty would 
live to reach the lake, but having collected a large number of canoes, the 
goods and sick men were transported in these vessels in such a smooth, 
expeditious manner that there were remarkably few casualties in the 
remnant of the rear column. But the wild natives having repeatedly 
defeated Ugarrowwa's raiders, by this discovered the extent of their own 
strength, gave us considerable trouble, and inflicted considerable loss 
among our best men, who had always of course to bear the brunt of 
fighting and the fatigue of paddling. 

However, we had no reason to be dissatisfied with the line we had 
made, when progress by river became too tedious and difficult, and the 
order to cast off the canoes was given. This was four days' journey 
above Ugarrowwa's station, or about 300 miles above Banalya. 

We decided that as the south bank of the Ituri liver was pretty well 
known to us, with all its intolerable scarcity and terrors, it would be best 



764 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

to try the north bank, though we should have to traverse for some days 
the despoiled lands which had been a common centre for Ugarrowwa's 
and Kilonga-Longa's band of raiders. We were about i6o miles from 
the grassland, which opened a prospect of future feasts of beef, veal, and 
mutton, with pleasing variety of vegetables, as well as oil and butter for 
cooking. Bright gossip on such subjects by those who had seen the 
Nyanza stimulated the dejected survivors of the rear column. 
Dreadful Mortality from Small-pox. 

On the 30th of October, having cast off the canoes, the land march 
iDegan in earnest, and two days later we discovered a large plantain plan- 
tation in charge of the Dwarfs. The people flung themselves on the 
plantains to make as large a provision as possible for the dreaded wilder- 
ness ahead of us. The most enterprising always secured a fair share, 
-and twelve hours later would be furnished with a week's provision of 
plantain flour; the feeble and indolent revelled for the time being on 
abundance of roasted fruit but always neglected providing for the future, 
and thus became victims of famine. 

After moving from this place ten days passed before we reached 
another plantation, during which time we lost more men than we had 
lost between Banalya and Ugarrowwa's. The small-pox broke out 
among the Manyema and their followers, and the mortality was terrible. 
Our Zanzibaris escaped this pest, however, owing to the vaccination they 
iiad undergone on board the Madura. 

We were now about four days' march above the confluence of the 

• Ihuru and Ituri rivers, and within about a mile from the Ishuru. As 

there was no possibility of crossing this violent and large tributary of the 

Ituri or Aruwimi we had to follow its right bank until a crossing could 

he discovered. 

Four days later we stumbled across the principal village of a district 
-called Andikumu, surrounded by the finest plantation of bananas and 
plantains we had yet seen, which all the Manyema's habit of spoliation 
and destruction had been unable to destroy. Then our people, after 
severe starvation during fourteen days, gorged themselves to such 
excess that it contributed greatly to lessen our numbers. Every twen- 
tieth individual suffered some complaint which entirely incapacitated him 
from duty. The Ihuru river was about four miles south-south-east from 
this place, flowing from east-north-east, and about sixty yards broad, and 
deep owing to the heavy rains. 

From Andikumu, a six days' march northerly brought us to another 
ilourishing settlement called Indeman, situated about four hours' march 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 765^ 

from the river we supposed to be the Ihuru. Here I was considerably- 
nonplussed by the grievous discrepancy between native accounts and 
my own observations. The natives called it the Ihuru river, and my- 
instruments and chronometer made it very evident that it could not be 
the Ihuru we knew. Finally, after capturing some dwarfs, we discovered 
that it was the right branch of the Ihuru river, called the Dui river, this 
agreeing with my own views. We searched and found a place where we 
could build a bridge across. Mr. Bonny and our Zanzibar chief threw 
themselves into the work, and in a few hours the Dui river was safely 
bridged, and we passed into a district entirely unvisited by the Manyema. 
' Crafty Dwarfs. 

In this new land between right and left members of the Ihuru the 
dwarfs called Wambutti were very numerous, and conflicts between our 
rear-guard and these crafty little people occurred daily, not without harm 
to both parties. Such as we contrived to capture we compelled to- 
show the path, but invariably for some reason they clung to east and 
east-north-east paths, whereas my route required a south-east direction,, 
because of the northing we had made in seeking to cross the Dui river. 
Finally we followed elephant and game tracks on a south-east course, 
but on December 9th we were compelled to hunt for forage in the middle 
of a vast forest, at a spot indicated by my chart to be not more than two 
or three miles from the Ituri river, which many of our people had seen 
while we resided at Fort Bodo. 

I sent 150 rifles back to a settlement that was fifteen miles back on the 
route we had come, while many Manyema followers also undertook to 
follow them. 

I quote from my journal part of what I wrote on December 14, the 
sixth day of the absence of the foragers : " Six days have transpired 
since our foragers left us. For the first four days time passed rapidly — 
I might say almost pleasantly — being occupied in recalculating all my 
observations from Ugarrowwa to Lake Albert and down to date, owing 
to a few discrepancies here and there which my second and third visit 
and duplicate and triplicate observations enabled me to correct. My 
occupation then ended, I was left to wonder why the large band of fora- 
gers did not return. The fifth day, having distributed all the stock of 
flour in camp and killed the only goat we possessed, I was compelled to 
open the officers' provision boxes and take a pound pot of butter, with 
two cupfuls of my flour, to make an imitation gruel, there being nothing 
else save tea, coffee, sugar, and a pot of sago in the boxes. In the 
afternoon a boy died, and the condition of a majority of the rest was most 



76G WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

disheartening ; some could not stand, but fell down in the effort. These 
constant sights acted on my nerves until I began to feel not only m'oral 
but physical sympathy as well, as though weakness was contagious. 
Before night a Madi carrier died, the last of our Somalis gave signs of 
-collapse, the few Soudanese with us were scarcely able to move. 

Fighting- Starvation. 

" The morning of the sixth day dawned ; we made the broth as usual 
— a pot of butter, abundance of water, a pot of condensed milk, a cupful 
of flour — for 130 people. The chiefs and Mr. Bonny were called to 
council. At my proposing a reverse to the foragers of such a nature as 
to exclude our men from returning with news of such a disaster, they 
were altogether unable to comprehend such a possibility — they believed 
it possible that these 150 men were searching for food, without which 
they would not return. They were then asked to consider the supposi- 
tion that they were five days searching for food, they had lost the road 
perhaps, or, having no white leader, they had scattered to loot goats, and 
had entirely forgotten their starving friends arid brothers in camp ; what 
Avould be the state of the 130 people five days hence? Mr. Bonny offered 
to stay with ten men in camp if I provided ten days' food for each per- 
son while I would set out to search for the missing men. Food to make 
a light cupful of gruel for ten men for ten days was not difficult to pro- 
cure, but the sick and feeble remaining must starve unless I met with 
good fortune, and accordingly a store of butter-milk, flour, and biscuits 
was prepared and handed over to the charge of Mr. Bonny." 

The afternoon of the seventh day mustered everybody, besides the 
garrison of the camp — ten men. Sadi, the Manyema chief, surrendered 
fourteen of his men to doom ; Kibbo-bora, another chief, abandoned his 
brother ; Fundi, another Manyema chief, left one of his wives, and a little 
boy. We left twenty-six feeble, sick wretches already past all hope, 
xinless food could be brought to them within twenty-four hours. 

In a cheery tone, though my heart was never heavier, I told the forty- 
three hunger-bitten people that I was going back to hunt up the missing 
men ; probably I should meet them on the road, but if I did that they 
would be driven on the run with food to them. We travelled nine miles 
that afternoon, having passed several dead people on the road, and early 
on the eighth day of their absence from camp met them marching in an 
easy fashion, but when we were met the pace was altered to a quick step, 
so that in twenty-six hours from leaving Stawahin camp we were back 
with a cheery abundance around, gruel and porridge boiling, bananas 
boiling, plantains roasting, and some meat simmering in pots for soup. 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 767 

This has been the nearest approach to absoiute star\ation in all my 
African experience. Twenty-one persons altogether succuinbed in this 
dreadful camp. 

On the 17th of December the Ihuru river was reached in three hours, 
and, having a presentiment that the garrison of Fort Bodo were still 
where I had left them, the Ihuru was crossed the next day ; and two 
■days following, steering through the forest regardless of paths, we had 
the good fortune to strike the western angle of the Fort Bodo plantations 
on the 20th. 

My presentiment was true. Lieutenant Stairs and his garrison were 
still in Fort Bodo, fifty-one souls out of fifty- nine, and never a word had 
been heard of Emin Pasha or of Mr. Mounteney Jephson during the 
seven months of my absence. Knowing the latter to be an energetic 
man, we were left to conjecture what had detained Mr. Jephson, even if. 
the affairs of his province had detained the Pasha. 

Making Friends AVitli the Natives. 

On the 23d of December the united expedition continued its march 
eastward, and as we had now to work by relays owing to the fifty extra 
loads that we had stored at the fort, we did not reach the Ituri Ferry, 
which was our last camp in the forest region before emerging on the 
grass land, until January 9. 

My anxiety about Mr. Jephson and the Pasha would not permit me to 
dawdle on the road making double trips in this manner, so. selecting a 
rich plantation and a good camping site to the east of the Ituri river, I 
left Lieutenant Stairs in command, witii 124 people, including Dr. Parke 
and Captain Nelson, in charge of all extra loads and camp, and on the 
nth of January continued my march eastward. 

The people of the plains, fearing a repetition of the fighting of Decem- 
ber, 1887, flocked to camp as we advanced and formally tendered their 
submission, agreeing to contributions and supplies. Blood brotherhood 
was made, exchange of gifts made, and firm friendship was established. 
The huts of our camp were constructed by the natives, food, fuel, and 
water were brought to the expedition as soon as the halting place was 
decided upon. 

We heard no news of the white men on Lake Albert from the plain 
people, by which my wonder and anxiety were increased, until the i6th, 
at a place called Gaviras, messengers from Kavalli came with a packet of 
letters, with one letter written on three several dates, with several days 
interval between, from Mr. Jephson, and two notes from Emin Pasha 
confirming the news in Mr. Jephson's letter. 



76.S WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

You can but imagine the intense surprise I felt while reading these 
letters by giving you extracts from them in Mr. Jephson's own words : 

" DUFFILE, Nov. 7, 1888. 

''Dear Sir : — I am writing to tell you of the position of affairs in this 
country, and I trust this letter will be delivered to you at Kavalli in time 
to warn you to be careful. 

" On August 18 a rebellion broke out here and the Pasha and I were 
made prisoners. The Pasha is a complete prisoner, but I am allowed to 
go about the station, but my movements are watched. The rebellion 
has been gotten up by some half-dozen Egyptians — officers and clerks — 
and gradually others have joined, some through inclination, but most 
through fear ; the soldiers, with the exception of those at Lahore, have 
never taken part in it, but have quietly given in to their officers. 

"When the Pasha and I were on our way to Rejaf,two men, one an 
officer — Abdul Vaal Effendi — and then a clerk went about and told the 
people that they had seen you, and that you were only an adventurer 
and had not come from Egypt, that the letters you had brought from the 
Khedive and Nubar Pasha were forgeries, that it was untrue Khartoum 
had fallen, and that the Pasha and you had made a plot to take them, 
their wives, and children, out of the country and hand them over as 
slaves to the English. Such words in an ignorant and fanatical country 
like this acted like fire amongst the people, and the result was a general 
rebellion, and we were made prisoners. 

Emin Paslia a Prisoner. 

" The rebels then collected officers from the different stations and held 
a large meeting here to determine what measures they should take, and 
all those who did not join in the movement were so insulted and abused 
that they were obliged for their own safety to acquiesce in what was 
done. The Pasha was deposed, and those officers who were suspected 
of being .friendly to him were removed from their posts, and those 
friendly to the rebels were put in their places. It was decided to take 
the Pasha as a prisoner to Rejaf, and some of the worst rebels were even 
for putting him in irons, but the officers were afraid to put their plans 
into execution, as the soldiers said they would never permit any one to 
lay a hand on him. Plans were also made to entrap you when you 
returned, and strip you of all you had. 

" Things were in this condition when we were startled by the news 
that the Mahdi's people had arrived at Lado with three steamers and 
nine sandals and nuggurs, and had established themselves on the site of 
the old station. Omar Sali, their general, sent up three Peacock Der- 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 769 

■vishes with a letter to the Pasha (a copy of this will follow as it contains 
.some interesting news) demanding the instant surrender of the country. 
The rebel officers seized them and put them in prison, and decided on 
war. After a few days the Mahdists attacked and captured Rejaf, killing 
^ive officers and numbers of soldiers, and taking many women and chil- 
dren prisoners, and all the stores and ammunition in the station were lost. 
The result of this was a general stampede of people from the stations of 
Bidden, Kirri, and Muggi, wdio fled, with their women and children, to 
Lahore, abandoning almost everything ; at Kirri the ammunition was 
abandoned, and was at once seized by the natives. The Pasha reckons 
that the Mahdists number about 1,500. 

" The officers and a large number of soldiers have returned to Muggi, 
;and intend to make a stand against the Mahdists. Our position here is 
■extremely unpleasant, for since the rebellion all is chaos and confusion ; 
there is no head, and half a dozen conflicting orders are given every day 
and no one obeys ; the rebel officers are wholly unable to control the 
soldiers. 

" The Baris have joined the Mahdists ; if they come down here with a 
rush, nothing can save us. 

" The officers are all very much frightened at what has taken place, 
.and are now anxiously awaiting your arrival, and desire to leave the 
country wath you, for they are now really persuaded that Khartoum has 
rfallen, and that you have come from the Khedive. 
"Like Rats in a Trap." 

" We are like rats in a trap ; they will neither let us act nor retire ; and 
T fear, unless you come very soon, you will be too late, and our fate will 
be like that of the rest of the garrisons of the Soudan. Had this rebel- 
lion not happened the Pasha could have kept the Mahdists in check for 
some time, but as it is he is powerless to act. 

" 1 would suggest on your arrival at Kavallis that you write a letter 
in Arabic to Shukri Aga, chief of Mswa station, telling him of your 
.arrival, and telling him you wish to see the Pasha and myself; and 
write also to the Pasha or myself, tilling us what number of men you 
have with you. It would perhaps be better to write to me, as a letter to 
him might be confiscated. 

" Neither the Pasha nor myself think there is the slightest danger now 
of any attempt to capture you being made, for the people are now fully 
persuaded you come from Egypt, and they look to you to get them out 
of their difficulties ; still it would be well for you to make your camp 
^strong. 

49 



770 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" If Ave are not able to get out of the country, please remember me to 
my friends, etc. Yours faithfully, 

"A. J. MOUNTENEY JePHSON. 

"To H. M. Stanley, Esq., Commander of the Relief Expedition. 

"Wadelai, Nov. 24, 1888. 

" My mes.senger having not yet left Wadelai, I add this postscript, as 
the Pasha w^ishes me to send my former letter to you- in its entirety. 

" Shortly after I had written to you, the soldiers were led by their 
officers to attempt to retake Rejaf, but the Mahdists defended it, and 
killed six officers and a large number of soldiers ; among the officers 
killed were some of the Pasha's worst enemies. The soldiers in all the 
stations were so panic-striken and angry at what had happened that they 
declared they would not attempt to fight unless the Pasha was set at 
liberty ; so the rebel officers were obliged to free him, and sent us to 
Wadelai, where he is free to do as he pleases ; but at present he has not 
resumed his authority in the country — he is, I believe, by no means 
anxious to do so. We hope in a few days to be at Tunguru — a station, 
on the lake, two days by steamer from N'sabe, and I trust when we hear 
of your arrival that the Pasha himself Avill be able to come down with- 
me to see you. 

Stanley's Arrival Anxiously Awaited, 

" Our danger, as far as the Mahdists are concerned, is of course,, 
increased by this last defeat; but our position is in one way better now, 
for we are further removed from them, and we have now the option of 
retiring if we please, which we had not before while we were prisoners. 
We hear that the Mahdists have sent steamers down to Khartoum for 
reinforcements ; if so, they cannot be up here for another six weeks. If 
they come up here with reinforcements, it will be all up with us, for the 
soldiers will never stand against them, and it will be a mere walk-over, 

" Every one is anxiously looking for your arrival, for the coming of 
the Mahdists has completely cowed them. 

" We may just manage to get out — if you do not come later than the- 
end of December — but it is entirely impossible to foresee what will happen^ 

"A. J. M.J." 
"Tunguru, December 18, 1888. 

" Dear Sir : — Mogo (the messenger) not having yet started, I send a- 
second postscript. We are now at Tunguru, On November 25th the 
Mahdists surrounded Dufile Station and besieged it for four days; the 
soldiers, of whom there were about 500, managed to repulse them, and 
Ihey retired to Rejaf, their headquarters. They have sent down tq- 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 771 

Khartoum for reinforcements, and doubtless will attack again when 
strerigthened. In our flight from Wadelai, the officers requested me to 
destroy our boat (the Advance). I, therefore, broke it up. 

" Dufile is being renovated as far as possible. The Pasha is unable to 
move hand or foot, as there is still a very strong party against him, and 
the officers are no longer in immediate fear of the Mahdists. 

" Do not on any account come down to Usate (my former camp on 
the lake, near Kavallis Island), but make your camp at Kavallis (on the 
plateau above). Send a letter directly you arrive there, and as soon as 
we hear of your arrival I will come to you. I will not disguise the fact 
from you that you will have a difficult and dangerous work before you 
in dealing with the Pasha's people. I trust you will arrive before the 
Mahdists are reinforced, or our case will be desperate. 

" I am, yours faithfully, 

" A. J. MOUNTENEY JePHSON." 

You will doubtless remember that I stated to you in one of my latest 
letters last year, 1888, that I know no more of the ultimate intentions of 
Emin Pasha than you at home know. He was at one time expressing 
himself as anxious to leave, at another time shaking his head and dolor- 
ously exclaiming, " I can't leave my people." Finally, I departed from 
him in May, 1888, with something like a definite promise — " If my 
people leave, I leave. If my people stay, I stay." 

Emin Clings to His Province. 

Here, then, on January 16, 1888, I receive this batch of letters and two 
notes from the Pasha himself confirming the above, but not a word from 
either Mr. Jephson or the Pasha, indicative of the Pasha's purpose. 
Did he still waver, or v/as he at last resolved ? With any other man 
than the Pasha, or Gordon, one would imagine that, being a prisoner 
and a fierce enemy hourly expected to give the coup mortal^ he would 
gladly embrace the first chance to escape from a country given up by his 
government. But there was no hint in these letters what course the 
Pasha would follow. These few hints of mine, however, will throw light 
on my postscript which here follows and on my state of mind after read- 
ing these letters. 

I wrote a formal letter, which might be read by any person, the Pasha, 
Mr. Jephson, or any of the rebels, and addressed it to Mr. Jephson as 
requested, but on a separate sheet of paper I wrote a private postscript 
for Mr. Jephson's perusal. 

" Kavallis, Jan. 18, 1889, 3. p. m. 

" Dy Dear Jephson : — I now send thirty rifles and three of Kavallis's 



772 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

men down to the lake with my letters, with urgent instructions' that a 
canoe should set off and the bearer be rewarded. 

" I may be able to stay longer than six days here, perhaps for ten days. 
I will do my best to prolong my stay until you arrive without rupturing 
the place. Our people have a good store of beads, cowries, and cloth, 
and I notice that the natives trade very readily, which will assist Kaval- 
lis's resources should he get uneasy under our prolonged visit. 

" Be wise, be quick, and waste no hour of time, and bring Buiza and 
your own Soudanese with you. I have read your letters half a dozen 
times over, but I fail to grasp the situation thoroughly, because in sorne 
important details one letter seems to contradict the other. In one you 
say the Pasha is a close prisoner, while you are allowed a certain amount 
of liberty ; in the other you say that you will come to me as soon as you 
hear of our arrival here, and ' I trust,' you say, ' the Pasha will be able to 
accompany me.' Being prisoners, I fail to see how you could leave 
Tunguru at all. All this is not very clear to us, who are fresh from the 
bush. 

" If the Pasha can come, send a courier on your arrival at our old 
camp, on the lake below here to announce the fact, and I will send a 
strong detachment to escort him up to the plateau, even to carry him if 
he needs it. I feel too exhausted, after my 1,300 miles of travel since I 
parted from you last May, to go down to the lake again. The Pasha 
must have some pity for me. 

" Don't be alarmed or, uneasy on our account ; nothing hostile can 
approach us within twelve miles without my knowing it. I am in the 
thickest of a friendly population, and if I sound the war note, within 
four hours I can have two thousand warriors to assist to repel any force 
disposed to violence. And if it is to be a war of wits, why then I am 
ready for the cunningest Arab alive. 

Plain Talk. 

" I wrote above that I read your letters half a dozen times, and my 
opinion of you varies with each reading. Sometimes I fancy you are 
half Mahdist, or Arabist, and then Eminist. I shall be wiser when I see 
you. 

" Now don't you be perverse, but obey, and let my order to you be as 
a frontlet between the eyes, and all, with God's gracious help, will end 
well. 

" I want to help the Pasha somehow, but he must also help me, and 
credit me. If he wishes to get out of this trouble I am his most devoted 
servant and friend, but if he hesitates again I shall be plunged in wonder 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 773 

and perplexity. I could save a dozen Pashas if they were willing to be 
saved. I would go on my knees to implore the Pasha to be sensible in 
his own case. He is wise enough in all things else, even his own 
interest. Be kind and good to him for many virtues, but do not you be 
drawn into the fatal fascination Soudan territory seems to have for all 
Europeans of late years. As soon as they touch its ground they seem 
to be drawn into a whirlpool which sucks them in and covers them with 
its waves. The only way to avoid it is to obey blindly, devotedly, and 
unquestioning all orders from the outside. 

"The committee said, 'Relieve Emin Pasha with this ammunition. 
If he wishes to come out, the ammunition will enable him to do so; if 
he elects to stay, it will be of service to him.' The Khedive said the 
same thing, and added, ' But if the Pasha and his officers wish to stay 
they do so on their own responsibility.' Sir Evelyn Baring said the 
same thing in clear and decided words, and here I am, after 4,100 miles 
of travel, with the last instalment of relief. Let him who is authorized 
to take it, take it. Come, I am ready to lend him all ni}^ strength and 
wit to assist him. But this time there must be no hesitation, but positive 
yea or nay, and home we go. 

" Yours very sincerely, 

" Henry M. Stanley. 

"A. J. Mounteney Jephson, Esq." 

If you will bear in mind that on August 17, 1888, after a march of 
600 miles to hunt up the rear column, I met only a miserable remnant of 
it, wrecked by the irresolution of its officers, neglect of their promises, 
and indifference to their written orders, you will readily understand why, 
after another march of 700 miles, I was a little put out when I dis- 
covered that, instead of performing their promise of conducting the gar- 
rison of Fort Bodo to the Nyanza, Mr. Jephson and Emin Pasha had 
allowed themselves to be made prisoners on about the very day they 
were expected by the garrison of Fort Bodo to reach them. It could 
not be pleasant reading to find that, instead of being able to relieve Emin 
Pasha, I was more than likely, by the tenor of these letters, to lose one 
of my own officers, and to add to the number of the Europeans in that 
unlucky Equatorial Province. However, a personal interview with Mr. 
Jephson was necessary, in the first place, to understand fairly or fully the 

state of affairs. 

Meeting- Jeplison. 

On February 6, 1889, Mr. Jephson arrived in the afternoon at our 

camp at Kavallis on the plateau. 

I was startled to hear Mr. Jephson in plain, undoubting words, say. 



774 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

"Sentiment is the Pasha's worst enemy; no one keeps Emin Pasha back 
but Emin Pasha himself." This is a summary of what Mr. Jephson had 
learned during nine months from May 25, i<S88, to February 6, 1889. 
I gathered sufficiently from Mr. Jephson's verbal report to conclude 
that during nine months neither the Pasha, Signor Casati, nor any man 
in the province had arrived nearer any other conclusion than that which 
was told us ten months before, thus : 

The Pasha — If my people go, I go. If they stay, I stay. 

Signor Casati — If the Governor goes, I go. If the Governor stays, I stay. 

The Faithful — If the Pasha goes, we go. " If the Pasha stays, we stay. 

However, the diversion in our favor created by the Mahdists' invasion, 
and the dreadful slaughter they made of all they met, inspired us with 
a hope that we could get a definite answer at last, though Mr. Jephson 
could only reply, " I really cannot tell you what the Pasha means to do. 
He says he wishes to go away, but will not make a move — no one will 
move. It is impossible to say what any man will do. Perhaps aMOthef 
advance by the Mahdists would send them all pell-mell towards you, to 
be again irresolute, and requiring several weeks' rest to consider again." 

Stanley's Demand. 

On February ist I despatched a company to the steam ferry with 
orders to Mr. Stairs to hasten with his column to Kavallis, with a view 
to concentrate the expedition ready for any contingency. Couriers were 
also despatched to the Pasha telling him of our movements and inten- 
tions, and asking him to point out how we could best aid him — whether 
it Avould be best for us to remain at Kavallis, or whether we should ad- 
vance into the province and assist him at Mswa or Tunguru Island, where 
Mr. Jephson had left him. I suggested the simplest plan for him would 
be to seize a steamer and employ her in the transport of the refugees, 
who I heard were collected in numbers at Tunguru, to my old camp 
on the Nyanza ; or that, failing a steamer, he should march overland 
from Tunguru to Mswa, and send a canoe to inform me he had done so, 
and a few days after I could be at Mswa with 250 rifles to escort them to 
Kavallis. But the demand was for something positive, otherwise it 
would be my duty to destroy the ammunition and march homeward. 

On the 13th of February a native courier appeared in camp with a 
letter from Emin Pasha, with news which electrified us. He was actually 
at anchor just below our plateau camp. But here is the formal letter : 

"Camp, February 13, 1889^ 
" Henry M. Stanley, Esq., commanding the Relief Expedition. 

" Sir : — In answer to your letter of the 7th inst., for which I beg to 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 775 

tender my best thanks, I have the honor to inform you that yesterday at 
3 p. M. I have arrived here with my two steamers, carrying a first lot of 
■people desirous to leave this country under your escort. As soon as I 
-have arranged for cover of my people, the steamships have to start for 
Mswa station to bring on another lot of people awaiting transport. 

" With me there are some twelve officers anxious to see you, and 
<5nly forty soldiers. They have come under my orders to request you 
to give them some time to bring their brothers, at least to do my best 
to assist them. Things having to some extent now changed, you will 
be able to make them undergo whatever conditions you see fit to 
impose upon them. To arrange those I shall start from here with 
the officers for your camp, after having provided for the camp, and 
-if you send carriers I could avail me of some of them. 

" I hope sincerely that the great difficulties you have had to un- 
dergo and the great sacrifices made by your expedition in its way to 
assist us may be rewarded by a full success in bringing out my people. 
The wave of insanity which overran the country has subsided, and of 
such people as are now coming with me we may be sure. 

" Signor Casati requests me to give his best thanks for your kind re- 
membrance of him. 

" Permit me to express to you once more my cordial thanks for what- 
<:ver you have done for us until now. 

" Believe me to be yours very faithfully, 

" Dr. Emin." 

During the interval between Mr. Jephson's arrival and the receipt of 
this letter Mr. Jephson had written a pretty full report of all that he had 
heard from the Pasha, Signor Casati, and Egyptian soldiers of all the 
principal events that had transpired within the last few years in the Equa- 
torial Province. 

Desperate Situation. 

In Mr. Jephson's report I come across such sentences as the following 
■conclusions. I give them for your consideration : 

" And this leads me now to say a few words concerning the position of 
afiairs in this country when I entered it on April 21, i888. The ist Bat- 
talion — about 700 rifles — had long been in rebellion against the Pasha's 
-authority, and had twice attempted to make him prisoner. The 2d Bat- 
talion-r-about 650 rifles — though professedly loyal, was insubordinate and 
almost unmanageable. The Pasha possessed only a semblance — a mere 
rag — of authority, and if he required anything of importance to be done,he 
could no longer order — he was obliged to beg — his officers to do it. 



776 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

" Now when we were at Nsebe in May, 1888, though the Pasha hinted 
that things were a httle difficult in his country, he never revealed to us- 
the true state of things, which was actually desperate, and we had not. 
the slightest idea that any mutiny or discontent was likely to arise- 
amongst his people. We thought, as most people in Europe and Egypt 
had been taught to believe by the Pasha's own letters and Dr. Junker's 
later, representations, that all his difficulties arose from events outside his 
country, whereas, in point of fact, his real danger arose from internal dis- 
sensions. Thus we were led to place our trust in people who were utterly 
unworthy of our confidence or help, and who, instead of being grateful', 
to us for wishing to help them, have from the very first conspired how to; 
plunder the expedition and turn us adrift, and had the mutineers in their 
highly excited state been able to prove one single case of injustice or 
cruelty or neglect of his people against the Pasha he would most assuredly^ 
have lost his life in this rebellion." 

Emin's Noble Traits. 

I shall only worry you just now with one more quotation from Mr.. 
Jephson's final report and summary : 

" As to the Pasha's wish to leave the country, I can say decidedly he- 
is most anxious to go out with us, but under what conditions he wilL 
consent to come out I can hardly understand. I do not think he quite 
knows himself. His ideas seem to me to vary so much on the subject. 
To-day he is ready to start up and go, to-morrow some new idea holds 
him back. I have had many conversations with him about it, but have 
never been able to get his unchanging opinion on the subject. After 
this rebellion, I remarked to him, ' I presume, now that your people have 
deposed you and put you aside, you do not consider that you have any^ 
longer any responsibility or obligations concerning them ; ' and he. 
answered, ' Had they not deposed me, I should have felt bound to stand 
by them and help them in any way I could, but now I consider I am. 
absolutely free to think only of my own personal safety and welfare, and 
if I get the chance I shall go out regardless of everything.' And yet 
only a few days before I left him he said to me, ' I know I am not in any- 
way responsible for these people, but I cannot bear to go out myself 
first and leave any one here behind me who is desirous of quitting the 
country. It is mere sentiment, I know, and perhaps a sentiment you 
will sympathize with, but my enemies at Wadelai would point at me and 
say to the people, " You see he has deserted you ! ' " 

"These are merely two examples of what passed between us on the 
subject of his going out with us, but I could quote numbers of things he 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 777' 

has said equally contradictory. Again, too, being somewhat impatient,, 
after one of these unsatisfactory conversations, I said, * If ever the expe- 
dition does reach any place near you, I shall advise Mr. Stanley to arrest 
you and carry you off, whether you will or no;' to which he replied,. 
' Well, I shall do nothing to prevent you doing that.' It seems to me 
that if we are to save him we must save him from himself 

" Before closing my report I must bear witness to the fact that in my 
frequent conversations with all sorts and conditions of the Pasha's peo- 
ple I heard with hardly any exceptions only praise of his justice and gen- 
erosity to his people, but I have heard it suggested that he did not hold. 
his people with a sufficiently firm hand. 

" I now am bound, by the length of this letter, necessities of travel, and 
so forth, to halt. Our stay at Kufurro is ended, and we must march 
to-morrow. A new page of this interesting period in our expedition 
' will be found in my next letter. Meantime you have the satisfaction tO' 
know that Emin Pasha, after all, is close to our camp at the Lake shore ; 
that carriers have been sent to him to bring up his luggage, and assist 
his people. Yours faithfully, 

"Henry M. Stanley. 
" William Mackinnon, Esq., 

Chairman of Emin Pasha Relief Committe." 

The following letter from Mr. Stanley to a personal friend gives further 
details of his great expedition : 

C.M.S. Station, S. End Victoria Nyanza, Sept. 3, 1889. 

My Dear Marsion : — It just now appears such an age to me since I 
left England. Ages have gone by since I saw you, surely. Do you 
know why? Because a daily thickening barrier of silence has crept 
between that time and this : silence so dense that in vain we yearn to 
pierce it. On my side I may ask, " What have you been doing?" On 
yours, you may ask, " And what have you been doing ? " I can assure you 
now that I know you live, that one day has followed another in striving 
strifefully against all manner of obstacles, natural and otherwise, from the 
day I left Yambuyo to August 28, 1889, the day I arrived here. 

Many Adventures. 

The bare catalogue of incidents would fill several quires of foolscap,. 
the catalogue of skirmishes would be of respectable length, the ca'talogue 
of adventures, accidents, mortalities, sufferings from fever, morbid mus- 
ings over mischances, that meet us daily, would make a formidable list. 
You know that all the stretch of country between Yambuya to this place 
was an absolutely new country except what may be measured by five 



778 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

ordinary marches. First, there is that dead white of the map now 
changed to a dead black. I mean that darkest region of the earth con- 
fined between E. long. 25 deg. and E. long. 29.45 deg., one great, com- 
pact, remorselessly sullen forest — the growth of an untold number of 
ages, swarming at stated intervals withimmensenumbersof vicious, man- 
eating savages and crafty under-sized men, who were unceasing in their 
annoyance; then there is that belt of grassland lying between it and the 
Albert Nyanza, whose people contested every mile of advance with 
spirit, and made us think that they were guardians of some priceless 
treasure hidden on the Nyanza shores, or at war with Emin Pasha and 
his thousands. A Sir Percival in search of the Holy Grail could not 
have met with hotter opposition. 

Three separate times necessity compelled us to traverse this unholy 
region with varying fortunes. Incidents then crowded fast. Emin Pasha 
was a prisoner, an officer of ours was his forced companion, and it really 
appeared as though we were to be added to the list ; but there is a virtue, 
you know, even in striving unyieldingly, in hardening the nerves, and 
facing these ever-clinging mischances without paying too much heed to 
the reputed danger. One is assisted much by knowing that there is no 
other course, and the danger somehow nine times out of ten diminishes. 
The rebels of Emin Pasha's Government relied on their craft and the 
wiles of the "heathen Chinee "; and it is rather amusing now to look 
back and note how punishment has fallen on them. 

Was it Providence or luck ? Let those who love to analyze such mat- 
ters reflect on it. Traitor% without the camp and traitors within were 
watched, and the most active conspirator was discovered, tried and hung. 
The traitors without fell foul of one another, and ruined themselves. If 
not luck, then it is surely Providence, in answer to good men's prayers 
far away. 

Men Devouring' Men. 

Our own people, tempted by extreme wretchedness and misery, sold 
our rifles and ammunition to our natural enemies, the Manyema slave- 
traders, true fiends without the least grace in either their bodies or souls. 
What happy influence was it that restrained me from destroying all those 
concerned in it ? Each time I read the story of Captain Nelson's and Sur- 
geon Parke's sufferings, I feel vexed at my forbearance, and yet again I 
feel thankful, for a Higher Power than man's severely afflicted the cold- 
blooded murderers by causing them to feed upon one another, a few 
weeks after the rescue and relief of Nelson and Parke. The memory of 
■those days alternately hardens and unmans me. 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 779 

With the rescue of Pasha, poor old Casati, and those who preferred 
Egypt's fleshpots to the coarse plenty of the province near the Nyanza, 
we returned, and while we were patiently waiting the doom of the rebels 
was consummated. 

Since that time of anxiety and unhappy outlook I have been at the 
point of death from a dreadful illness; the strain had been too much, and 
for twenty-eight days I lay helpless, tended by the kindly and skillful 
hand of Surgeon Parke. 

Then, little by little, I gathered strength aud ordered the march for 
home. Discovery after discovery in the wonderful region was made. The 
snowy range of Ruevenzoni, the " Cloud King " or " Rain Creator," the 
Semliki River, the Albert Edward Nyanza, the new peoples, dwellers of the 
rich forest region, the Wanyora bandits, and then the Lake Albert Edward 
tribes, and the shepherd race of the Eastern Uplands — until at last we 
came to a church, whose cross dominated a Christian settlement, and 
we knew that we had reached the outskirts of blessed civilization. 

Tedious Delay. 

We have every reason to be grateful, and may that feeling be ever kept 
within me. Our promises as volunteers have been performed as well as 
though we had been specially commissioned by a Government. We have 
been all volunteers, each devoting his several gifts, abilities and energies 
to win a successful issue for the enterprise. If there has been anything 
that clouded sometimes our thoughts, it has been that we were compelled 
by the state of Emin Pasha and his own people to cause anxieties to our 
friends by tedious delay. At every opportunity I have endeavored to 
lessen these by despatching full accounts of our progrees to the Com- 
mittee, that through them all interested might be acquainted with what 
we had been doing. Some of my officers also have been troubled in 
thought that their government might not overlook their having over- 
stayed their leave, but the truth is, the wealth of the British Treasuiy 
■could, not have hastened our march, without making ourselves liable to 
impeachment for breach of faith, and the officers were as much involved 
as myself in doing the thing honorably and well. 

I hear there is great trouble, war, etc., between the Germans and Arabs 
•of Zanzibar. What influence this may have on our future I do not know, 
.but we trust nothing to interrupt the march to the sea which will be 
.begun in a few days. 

Meantime, with such wishes as the best and most inseparable friends 
>endov/ one another, I pray you to believe me always yours sincerely, 

(Signed) . Henry M. Stanley. 

To Edwd. Marston, Esq. 



780 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Professor Schweinfurth, of Berlin, received the following letter from 

Emin Pasha : 

English Mission Station, Ussambiro, 

Victoria Nyanza, 26th August. 
Mr. Stanley with his people, as well as the few who came with me,, 
have just arrived here. I hasten to send you, who have always shown 
me so much kindness and taken such interest in me, these few lines as a 
sign of life. If we stay here, as I hope, for a few days I shall be able to 
write you more fully, although I am half blind. I hope tj be able to- 
tell you, some leisure evening, all about the military revolution in my 
own province ; about Mr. Jephson and myself being detained prisoners- 
in Dufile; the arrival of the Mahdi's followers in Lado and the capture 
and destruction of Rejaf ; the massacre of the soldiers and officers sent 
against them ; our departure to Wadelai and Tunguru ; the Mahdist 
attack on Dufile and their complete defeat; our final union with Mr^ 
Stanley and the march here from the Albert Nyanza, which has proved 
geographically and otherwise so highly interesting. I have also some 
good specimens of plants for you. May I ask you to greet Messrs. 
Junker, Ratzel, Leipan, Haffenstein, and Perthes from me ? I will try- 
to write — but my eyes ! — Accept my best greetings, and believe me your 
sincere and devoted 

Emin. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 

Stanley's Continued History of His March — Emin's Arrival at Stanley's Camp — 
Arranging for the Tourney — Arabs who Always Agree with You — That Stolen 
Rifle — Selim Bey Deposed — The Surgeon's Devotion— A Doctor who Loved 
His Cases — The Refugees and Their Luggage — FallstafF's Buck Basket — Piles of 
Rubbish — Porters with an Ugly Temper — Emin's Inquiry — Government Envoy — 
Stanley's Reply to Emin— Hankering for Egypt — Stanley Reviews the Situa- 
tion — The Pasha's Danger — Rebels Everywhere — Stirring up Emin — Rebels 
Threaten to Rob Stanley — Threats of Sending Stanley's Expedition into the 
Wilderness to Perish — Selim Bey's Delay — Rebels Possessed of Ammunition — 
When Shall the March Commence ? — Reply of the Officers — Questions of Honor 
and Duty — Europeans Unwilling to Quit Africa — A Contract Broken — Emin Acquit- 
ted of All Dishonor — Emin's Unwavering Faith — Few Willing to Follow Emin to 
Egypt — Tales of Disorder and Distress — Compulsory Muster and Start — All 
Except Two Wish to Go to Zanzibar — Stanley Threatens the Treacherous Arabs — 
Expedition Starts for Home — Fifteen Hundred in the Party— Illness of Stan- 
ley — Conspiracies — Ringleader of Sedition Executed — A Packet of Letters — Inso- 
lent Message from Selim Bey — The Perilous March— A Great Snowy Range — 
Climbing the Mountains — Sufferings on the Journey. 

'WELVE days after penning the account of his expedition con- 
tained in the last chapter, Mr. Stanley sent a continued history of 
his march. Thus we have from his graphic pen a complete 
narrative of his wonderful exploits throughout his last great 
journey. 

Camp at Kizinga, Uzinja, August 17, 1889. 
To the Chairman of the Emin Pasha Relief Committee. 

Sir: — On the 17th of February, Emin Pasha and a following of about 
sixty-five people, inclusive of Selim Bey or Colonel Selim and seven 
other officers, who were a deputation sent by the officers of the Equatorial 
Province, arrived at my camp on the plateau near Kavallis village. The 
Pasha was in mufti, but the deputation were in uniform, and made quite 
a sensation in the country. Three of them were Egyptians, but the 
others were Nubians, and were rather soldierly in their appearance, and 
with one or two exceptions received warm commendations from the 
Pasha. The divan was to be held the next day. On the 18th Lieut. 
Stairs arrived with his column, largely augmented by Mazamboni's 
people, from the Ituri river, and the expedition was once more united', 
not to be separated I hoped again during our stay in Africa. At the 

(781) 



782 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

meeting which was held in the morning SeHm Bey — who had lately- 
distinguished himself at Dufile by retaking the station from the Mah- 
dists, and killing about 250 cf them, it was said — a tall, burly, elderl}r 
man of fifty or thereabouts — stated on behalf of the deputation and the 
officers at Wadelai that they came to ask for time to allow the troops 
and their families to assemble at Kavallis. 

Though they knew what our object in coming to the Nyanza was, or 
they ought to have known, I took the occasion, through the Pasha, who 
is thoroughly proficient in Arabic, to explain it in detail. I wondered at 
the ready manner they approved everything, though, since, I have dis- 
covered that such is their habit though they may not believe a word you 
utter. I then told them that though I had waited nearly a year to 
obtain a simple answer to the single question, whether they would stay 
in Africa, or accompany us to Egypt, I would give them before they 
departed a promise written in Arabic that I would stay a reasonable 
time, sufficient to enable them to embark themselves and families and all 
such as were willing to leave on board the steamers and to arrive at the 
Lake shore below our camp. The deputation replied that my answer 
was quite satisfactory, and they promised on their part that they would 
proceed direct to Wadelai, proclaim to all concerned what my answer 
was, and commence the work of transport. 

The Surgeon's Devotion. 

On the 2 1 St the Pasha and the deputation went down to the Nyanza 
camp on account of a fal§e alarm about the Wanyoro advancing to attack 
the camp. A rifle was stolen from the expedition by one of the officers 
of the deputation. This was a bad beginning of our intercourse that 
was promised to be. The two steamers Khedive and Nyanza had gone 
in the meantime to Mswa to transport a fresh lot of refugees, and 
returned on the 25th, and the next day the deputation departed on their 
mission ; but before they sailed they had a mail from Wadelai wherein 
they were informed that another change of Government had taken place. 
Selim Bey — the highest official under the Pasha — had been deposed, 
and several of the rebel officers had been promoted to the rank of Beys. 
The next day the Pasha returned to our camp with his little daughter 
Ferida and a caravan of 144 men. In reply to a question of mine the 
Pasha replied that he thought twenty days a sufficiently reasonable 
time for all practical purposes, and he offered to write it down in form. 
But this I declined, as I but wished to know whether my idea of a 
"reasonable time" and his differed; for after finding what time was 
required for a steamer to make a round voyage from our old camp on 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 78.S 

the Nyanza to Wadelai and back, I had proposed to myself that a month 
would be more than sufficient for Sehm Bey to collect all such people as 
desired to leave for Egypt. 

The interval devoted to the transport of the Egyptians from Wadelai 
could also be utilized by Surgeon Parke in healing our sick. At this 
time the hardest-worked man in our expedition was the surgeon. Ever 
since leaving Fort Bodo in December Surgeon Parke- attended over a 
hundred sick daily. There were all kinds of complaints, but the most 
numerous and those who gave the most trouble were those who suffered 
from ulcers. So largely had these drained our medicine chests that the 
surgeon had nothing left for their disease but pure carbolic acid and per- 
manganate of potash. Nevertheless, there were some wonderful 
recoveries during the halt of Stair's column on the Ituri River in 
January. 

The surgeon's " devotion" — there is not a fitter word for it — his regu- 
lar attention to all the minor details of his duties, and his undoubted 
skill, enabled me to turn out 280 able-bodied men by the ist of April, 
sound in vital organs and limbs, and free from all blemish : whereas on the 
1st of February it would have been difficult to have mustered 200 men in 
the ranks fit for service. I do not think that I ever met a doctor who so 
loved his "cases. To him they were all "interesting," despite the odors 
emitted, and the painfully qualmish scenes. I consider this expedition 
in nothing happier than in the possession of an unrivalled physician and 
surgeon. Dr. F. H. Parke. Meanwhile, while " Our Doctor " was assidu- 
ously dressing and trimming up the ulcerous ready for the march to 
Zanzibar, all men fit for duty were doing far more than either we or they 
bargained for. We had promised the Pasha to assist his refugees to the 
Plateau Camp with a few carriers — that is, as any ordinary man might 
understand it, with one or two carriers per Egyptian ; but never had 
people so grossly deceived themselves as we had. 

The Refug-ees and Their Lug-gage. 

The loads were simply endless, and the sight of the rubbish which the 
refugees brought with them, and which was to be carried up that plateau 
slope to an altitude of 2,800 feet above the Nyanza, made our people 
groan aloud — such things as gHnding stones ! ten-gallon copper cooking 
pots, some 200 bedsteads, preposterously big baskets — like Falstaff's 
buck basket — old Saratoga trunks fit for American mammas, old sea- 
chests, great clumsy-looking boxes,little cattle troughs, large twelve-gallon 
pombe jars, parrots, pigeons, etc. These things were pure rubbish, for 
all would have to be discarded at the signal to march. Eight hundred 



784 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

and fifty-three loads of these goods were, however, brought up with the 
assistance of the natives, subject as they were to be beaten and maltreated 
by the vile-tempered Egyptian each time the natives went down to the 
Nyanza ; but the Zanzibaris now began to show an ugly temper also. 
They knew just enough Arabic to he aware that the obedience, tract- 
ability, and ready service they exhibited were translated by the Egyp- 
tians into cowardice and slavishness, and after these hundreds of loads 
had been conveyed they refused point blank to carry any more, and they 
•explained their reasons so well that we warmly sympathized with them 
.at heart ; but by this refusal they came in contact with discipline, and 
strong measures had to be resorted to to coerce them to continue the 
work until the order to '' Cease " was given. On the 31st March we were 
.all heartily tired of it, and we abandoned the interminable task. One 
thousand three hundred and fifty-five loads had been transported to the 
plateau from the Lake camp. 

The Pasha's Inquiry. 
Thirty days after Selim Bey's departure for Wadelai a steamer appeared 
before the Nyanza Camp bringing in a letter from that officer, and also 
one from all the rebel officers at Wadelai, who announced themselves as 
■delighted at hearing twelve months after my second appearance at Lake 
Albert that the "Envoy of our great Government" had arrived, and that 
they were now all unanimous for departing to Egypt under my escort. 
When the Pasha had mastered the contents of his mails he came to me 
to impart the information that Selim Bey had caused one steamer full of 
refugees to be sent up to Tungura from Wadelai, and since that time he 
had been engaged in transporting people from Dufile up to Wadelai. 
According to this rate of progress it became quite clear that it would 
require three months more — even if this effort at work, which was quite 
heroic, in Selim Bey would continue — before he could accomplish the 
transport of the people to the Nyanza Camp below the plateau. The 
Pasha, personally elated at what he thought to be good hews, desired to 
know what I had determined upon under the new aspect of affairs. In 
reply I summoned the officers of the Expedition together — Lieutenant 
Stairs, R.E., Captain R. H. Nelson, Surgeon T. H. Parke, A. M. Monte- 
ney Jephson, Esq., and Mr. William Bonny — and proposed to them in 
the Pasha's presence that they should listen to a few explanations, and 
then give their decision one by one according as they should be asked : 
' " Gentlemen, — Emin Pasha has received a mail from Wadelai. Selim 
Bey, who left the port below here on the 26th February last with a prom- 
ise that he would hurry up such people as wished to go to Egypt, writes 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 785 

from Wadelai that the steamers are engaged in transporting some peo- 
ple from Dufile to Wadelai ; that the work of transport between Wadelai 
and Tunguru will be resumed upon the accomplishment of the other 
task. When he went away from here we were informed that he was 
deposed, and that Emin Pasha and he were sentenced to death by the 
rebel officers. We now learn that the rebel officers (ten in number) and 
all their faction are desirous of proceeding to Egypt. We may suppose 
therefore that Selim Bey's party is in the ascendant again. Shukri Aga, 
the chief of Mswa Station — the station nearest to us — paid us a visit here 
in the middle of March. He was informed on the 1 6th of March, the 
day that he departed, that our departure for Zanzibar would positively 
begin on the loth of April. He took with him urgent letters for Selim 
Bey onnouncing that fact in unmistakable terms. 

Mr. Stanley's Reply. 
" Eight days later we hear that Shukri Aga is still at Mswa having only 
sent a few women and children to the Nyanza Camp, yet he and his peo- 
ple might have been here by this — if they intended to accompany us. 
Thirty days ago Selim Bey left us with a promise of a reasonable time. 
The Pasha thought once that twenty days would be a reasonable time — 
however, we have extended it to forty-four days. Judging by the length of 
time Selim Bey has already taken,. reaching Tunguru with only one-six- 
teenth of the expected force, I personally am quite prepared to give the 
Pasha my decision. For you must know, gentlemen, that the Pasha, 
having heard from Selem Bey intelligence so encouraging, wishes to know 
my decision, but I have preferred to call you to answer for me. You are 
aware that our instructions were to carry relief to Emin Pasha, and to 
escort such as were willing to accompany us to Egypt. We arrived at 
the Nyanza and met Emin Pasha in the latter part of April, 1888, just 
twelve months ago. We handed him his letters from the Khedive and 
his Government, and also the first instalment of relief, and asked him 
whether we were to have the pleasure of his company to Zanzibar. He 
replied that his decision depended on that of his people. This was the 
first adverse news that we received. Instead of meeting with a number 
of people only too anxious to leave Africa, it was questionable whether 
there would be any except a few Egyptian clerks. With Major Bartte- 
lot so far distant in the rear we could not wait at the Nyanza for this 
decision.. As that might possibly require months, it would be more pro^ 
fitable to seek and assist the rear column, and by the time we arrived 
here again those willing to go to Egypt would be probably impatient to 
start. 

50 



786 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

"We therefore — leaving Mr. Jephson to convey our message to the 
Pasha's troops — returned to the Forest Region for the rear column, and 
in nine months were back again on the Nyanza. But instead of discover- 
ing a camp of people anxious and ready to depart from Africa, we find 
no camp at all, but hear that both the Pasha and Mr. Jephson are pri- 
soners, that the Pasha has been in imminent danger of his life from the 
rebels, and at another time is in danger of being bound on his bedstead 
and taken to the interior of the Makkaraka country. It has been current 
talk in the Province that we were only a party of conspirators and ad- 
venturers ; that the letters of the Khedive and Nubar Pasha were forgeries 
concocted by the vile Christians Stanley and Casati, assisted by Moham- 
med Emin Pasha. 

Stirring up the Pasha. 

" So elated have the rebels been by their bloodless victory over the 
Pasha and Mr. Jephson that they have confidently boasted of their pur- 
pose to entrap me by cajoling words, and strip our Expedition of every 
article belonging to it, and send us a-drift into the wilds to perish. We 
need not dwell on the ingratitude of these men, or on their intense 
ignorance and evil natures ; but you must bear in mind the facts to 
guide you to a clear decision. We believed when we volunteered for 
this work that we should be met with open arms. We were received 
with indifference, until we were led to doubt whether .any people 
wished to depart ; my representative was made a prisoner, menaced 
with rifles ; threats were freely used ; the Pasha was deposed, and for 
three months was a close prisoner. I am toJd this is the third revolt 
in the Province. Well, in the face of all this we have waited nearly 
twelve months to obtain the few hundreds of unarmed men, women 
and children in this camp. As I promised Selim Bey and his officers 
that I would give a reasonable time, Selim Bey and his officers repeatedly 
promised to us there should be no delay. The Pasha has already fixed 
the loth April, which extended their time to forty-four days, sufficient 
for three round voyages for each steamer. 

"The news brought to-day is not that Selim Bey is close here, but that 
he has not started from Waddin yet. In addition to his own friends,, 
who are said to be loyal and obedient to him, he brings the ten rebel 
officers and some 600 or 700 soldiers, their faction. Remembering the 
three revolts which these same officers have inspired, their pronounced 
intentions towards this expedition, their plots and counterplots, the life of 
conspiracy and smiling treachery they have led, we may well pause to 
consider what object principally animates them now — that from being 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 787 

ungovernably rebellious against all constituted authority, they have sud- 
denly become obedient and loyal soldiers of the Khedive and his ' great 
Government.' You must be aware that, exclusive of the thirty-one boxes 
of ammunition delivered to the Pasha by us in May, 1888, the rebels pos- 
sess ammunition of the Provincial Government equal to twenty of our 
cases. We are bound. to credit them with intelligence enough to per- 
ceive that such a small supply would be fired in an hour's fighting among 
so many rifles, and that only a show of submission and apparent loyalty 
will ensure a further supply from us. Though the Pasha brightens up 
each time he obtains a plausible letter from these people strangers like 
we are may also be forgiven for not readily trusting those men whom 
they have such good cause to mistrust. Could we have some guarantee 
of good faith there could be no objection to delivering to them all they 
required — that is, with the permission of the Pasha. Can we be cer- 
tain, however, that if we admit them into this camp as good friends 
and loyal soldiers of Egypt they will not rise up some night and pos- 
sess themselves of all the ammunition, and so deprive us of the power, 
of returning to Zanzibar ? It would be a very easy matter for them to 
do so after they had acquired the knowledge of the rules of the camp. 
With our minds filled with Mr. Jephson's extraordinary revelations of 
what has been going on in the Province since the closing of the Nile 
route, beholding the Pasha here before my very eyes, who was lately sup- 
posed to have several thousands of people under him, but now without 
any important following— and bearing in mind ' the cajolings ' and 
' wiles ' by which we were to be entrapped, I ask you. Would we be wise 
in extending the time of delay beyond the date fixed, that is the tenth of 
April ?" 

The ofificers one after another replied in the negative. 

" There, Pasha," I said, " you have your answer. We march on the 
loth of April." 

The Pasha then asked if we could "in our consciences acquit him of 
having abandoned his people," supposing they have not arrived by the 
loth April. We replied, " Most certainly." 

Questions of Honor and Duty. 

Three or four days after this I was informed by the Pasha, who pays 
great deference to Captain Casati's views, that Captain Casati was by no 
means certain that he was doing quite right in abandoning his people. 
According to the Pasha's desire I went over to see Captain Casati, fol- 
lowed soon after by Emin Pasha. Questions of law, honor, duty were 
brought forward by Casati, who expressed himself clearly that " moral- 



788 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

mente " Emin Pasha was bound to stay by his people. I quote these 
matters simply to show to you that Our principal difficulties lay not only 
with the Soudanese and Egyptians ; we had some with the Europeans 
also who for some reason or other seemed in no wise inclined to quit 
Africa, even when it was quite clear that the Pasha of the Province had 
few loyal men to rely on, that the outlook before them was imminent 
danger and death, and that on our retirement there was no other pros- 
pect than the grave. I had to refute these morbid ideas with the ABC 
of common sense. 

A Contract Violated. 

I had to illustrate the obligations of Emin Pasha to his soldiers by 
comparing them to a mutual contract between two parties. One party 
refused to abide by its stipulations, and would have no communication 
with the other, but proposed to itself to put the second party to death. 
Could that be called a contract ? Emin Pasha was appointed Governor 
of the Province. He had remained faithful to his post and duties until 
his own people rejected him and finally deposed him. He had been 
informed by his Government that if he and his officers and soldiers 
elected to quit the Province they could avail themselves of the escort of 
the expedition which had been sent to their assistance, or stay in Africa 
on their own responsibility ; that the Government had abandoned the 
Province altogether. But when the Pasha informs his people of the 
Government's wishes, the officers and soldiers declare the whole to be 
false, and decline to depart with him — will listen to no suggestions of 
departing, but lay hands on him, menace him with death, and for three 
months detain him a close prisoner. Where was the dishonor to the 
Pasha in yielding to what was inevitable and indisputable ? As for duty, 
the Pasha had a dual duty to perform — that to the Khedive as his chief, 
and that to his soldiers. So long as neither duty clashed affairs pro- 
ceeded smoothly enough, but the instant it was hinted to the soldiers 
that they might retire now if they wished, they broke out into open vio- 
lence and revolted, absolved the Pasha of all duty towards them, and 
denied that he had any duty to perform to them ; consequently the Pasha« 
could not be morally bound to care in the least for people who would not 
listen to him. 

I do. not think Casati was convinced, nor do I think the Pasha was 
convinced. But it is strange what strong hold this part of Africa has 
upon European officers, Egyptian officers, and Soudanese soldiers. 

The next day after this Emin Pasha informed me that he was certain 
all the Egyptians in the camp would leave with him on the day named, 



• STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 789 

but from other quarters reports reached me that not one quarter of them 
would leave the camp at Kavallis. The abundance of food, the quiet 
demeanor of the natives, with whom we were living in perfect concord, 
seemed to them to be sufficient reasons for preferring life near the Nyanza 
to the difficulties of the march. Besides, the Mahdists whom they 
dreaded were far away and could not possibly reach them. 
The Paslia's Unwavering^ Faith. 

On the 5th of April, Serom, the Pasha's servant, told me that not 
many of the Pasha's servants intended to follow him on the loth. The 
Pasha himself confirmed this. Here was a disappointment, indeed ! Out 
of the 10,000 people there were finally comparatively very few willing to 
follow him to Egypt. To all of us on the Expedition it had been clear 
from the beginning that it was all a farce on the part of the Wadelai 
force. It was clear that the Pasha had lost his hold over the people — 
neither officers, soldiers, nor servants were ready to follow him ; but we 
could not refute the Pasha's arguments, nor could we deny that he had 
reason for his stout, unwavering faith in them when he would reply, " I 
know my people ; for thirteen years I have been with them, and I believe 
that when I leave all will follow me." When the rebels' letters came 
announcing their intention to follow their Governor, he exclaimed, " You 
see ; I told you so." But now the Pasha said, " Never mind, I am some- 
thing of a traveller myself I can do with two servants quite as Avell as 
with fifty. I do not think I should be drawn into this matter at all, having 
formed my own plans some time before ; but it intensified my feelings 
greatly when I was told that, after waiting forty-four days, building their 
camps for them, and carrying nearly 1,400 loads for them up that high 
plateau wall, only few out of the entire number would follow us." 

But on the day after I was informed that there had been an alarm in 
my camp the night before — the Zanzibari quarters had been entered by 
the Pasha's people, and an attempt made to abstract the rifles. This it 
was which urged me to immediate action. I knew there had been con- 
spiracies in the camp, that the malcontents were increasing, that we had 
many rebels at heart amongst us, that the people dreaded the march more 
than they feared the natives ; but I scarcely believed that they would dare 
put into practice their disloyal ideas in my camp. I proceeded to the 
Pasha to consult with him, but the Pasha would consent to no proposi- 
tion ; not but that they appeared necessary and good, but he could not, 
owing to the want of time, etc., etc. Yet the Pasha the evening before 
had received a post from Wadelai which brought him terrible tales of dis- 
order, distress, and helplessness among Selim Bey and his faction, and the 



790 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. . 

rebels and their adherents. I accordingly informed him that I proposed 
to act immediately, and would ascertain for myself what this hidden dan- 
ger in the camp was ; and as a first step I would be obliged if the Pasha 
would signal for a general muster of the principal Egyptians in the square 
of the camp. 

A Compulsory Muster and Start. 

The summons being sounded, and not attended quicky enough to satisfy 
me, half a company of Zanzibaris were detailed to take sticks and rout 
everyone from their huts. Dismayed by these energetic measures, they 
poured into the square, which was surrounded by rifles. On being ques- 
tioned, they denied all knowledge of any plot to steal the rifles from us, 
or to fight, or to withstand in any manner any order. It was then pro- 
posed that those who desired to accompany us to Zanzibar should step 
on one side. They all hastened to one side except two of the Pasha's 
servants. The rest of the Pasha's people, having paid no attention to the 
summons, were secured in their huts and brought to the camp square, 
where some were flogged and others ironed and put under guard. " Now, 
Pasha," I said, " will you be good enough to tell these Arabs that these 
rebellious tricks of Wadelai and Dufile must cease here, for at the first 
move made by them I shall be obliged to exterminate them utterly?" 
On the Pasha translating the Arabs bowed, and vowed that they would 
obey their father religiously. At the muster this curious result was 
returned : There were with us 134 men, 84 married women, 187 female 
domestics, 74 children abpvetwo years, 35 infants in arms, making a total 
of 5 14. I have reason to believe that the number was nearer 600, as many 
were not reported from a fear, probably, that some would be taken pris- 
oners. 

On the loth of April we set out from Kavallis, in.number about 1,500 
for 350 native carriers had been enrolled from the district to assist in 
carrying the baggage of the Pasha's people, whose ideas as to what was 
essential for the march were very crude. 

An Execution. 

On the I ith we camped at Masambonis, but in the night I was struck 
down with a severe illness, w^hich well nigh proved mortal. It detained 
us at the camp twenty-eight days, which if Selim Bey and his party were 
really serious in their intention to withdraw from Africa was most fortun- 
ate for them, since it increased their allowance to seventy-two days. But 
in all this interval, only Shukri Aga, the chief at Mswa Station, ap- 
peared. He had started with twelve soldiers, but one by one disap- 
peared, until he had only his trumpeter and one servant. A few days 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 791 

after the trumpeter abscondea. Thus only one servant was left out of 
a garrison of sixty men, who were reported to be the faithfullest of the 
faithful. 

During my illness another conspiracy or rather several were afloat, but 
one only was attempted to be realized, and the ringleader, a slave of 
Awash Effendi's, whom I had made free at Kavallis was arrested, and, after 
court-martial, which found him guilty, was immediately executed. Thus 
I have summai'ized the events attending the withdrawal of the Pasha 
and his Egyptians from the neighborhood of the Albert Nyanza. I 
ought to mention, however, that through some error of the native couriers 
employed by the Egyptians with us, a packet of letters was intercepted 
which threw a new light upon the character of the people whom we were 
to escort to the sea coast at Zanzibar. In a letter written by Ibrahim 
Effendi Elham, an Egyptian captain, to Selim Bey at Wadelai, were 
found — " I beseech you to hurry up your soldiers. If you send only 
fifty at once we can manage to delay the march easily enough ; and if 
you can come with your people soon after we may obtain all we need." 
Ibrahim Effendi Elham was in our camp, and we may imagine that he 
only wrote what was determined upon by himself and fellow-officers 
should Selim Bey arrive in time to assist them in carrying out the plot. 

The Perilous March. 

On the 8th of May the march was resumed, but in the evening the 
last communication from Selim Bey was received. It began in a very 
insolent style — such as : " What do you mean by making the Egyptian 
officers carry loads on their heads and shoulders ? What do you mean 
by making the soldiers beasts of burden ? What do you mean by " etc., 
etc., all of which were purely mythical charges. The letter ended by abject 
entreaties that we should extend the time a little more, with protestations 
that if we did not listen to their prayers they -were doomed, as they had 
but little ammunition left, and then concluding with the most important 
intelligence of all, proving our judgment of the whole number to be 
sound. The letter announced that the ten rebel officers and their adher- 
ents had one night broken into the store-houses at Wadelai, had possessed 
themselves of all the reserve ammunition and other stores, and had de- 
parted for Makkaraka, leaving their dupe, Selim Bey, to be at last sensi- 
ble that he had been an egregious fool, and that he had disobeyed the 
Pasha's orders and disregarded his urgent entreaties, for the sake of in- 
grates like these, who had thrust him into a deep pit out of which there 
was no rescue unless we of course should wait for him. A reply was 
sent to him for the last time that if he were serious in wishing to accom- 



792 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

pany us, we should proceed forward at a slow rate, halting 24 days on 
the route, by which he would easily overtake us with his 200 soldiers. 
This was the last we heard of him. 

The route I had adopted was one which skirted the Balegga moun- 
tains at a distance of 40 miles or thereabouts from the Nyanza. The 
first day was a fairish path, but the three following days tried our Egyp- 
tians sorely, because of the ups and downs and the brakes of cane-grass. 
On arriving at the southern end of these mountains we were made aware 
that our march was not to be uninterrupted, for the King of Unyoro had 
made a bold push, and had annexed a respectable extent of country on 
the left side of the Semliki River, which embraced all the open grass 
land between the Semliki River and the forest region. Thus, without 
making an immense detour through the forest, which would have been 
fatal to most of the Egyptians, we had no option but to press on, despite 
Kabrega and his Warasura. This latter name is given to the Wan- 
yoro by all natives who have come in contact with them. The first 
day's encounter was decidedly in our favor, and the effect of it cleared 
the territory as far as the Semliki River free of the Wanyoro. 

Meantime, we had become aware that we were on the threshold of a 
region which promised to be very interesting, for daily as we advanced 
to the southward, the great snowy range, which had so suddenly arrested 
our attention and excited our intense interest (in May i, 1888), grew 
larger and bolder into view. It extended a long distance to the south- 
west, which would inevitably take us some distance off our course unless 
a pass could be discovered to shorten the distance to the countries south. 
At Buhoho, where we had the skirmish with Kabrega raiders, we stood 
on the summit of the hilly range which bounds the Semliki Valley on its 
north-west and south-west sides. On the opposite side rose' Ruwenzori, 
the snow mountain, and its. enormous eastern flank, which dipped down 
gradually until it fell into the level, and was seemingly joined with the 
tableland of Unyoro. The humpty western flank dipped down suddenly,, 
as it seemed to us, into lands that we knew not by name as yet. 

Between these opposing barriers spread the Semliki Valley, so like a 
lake at its eastern extremity that one of our officers exclaimed that it 
was the lake, and the female followers of the Egyptians set up a shrill 
lululus, on seeing their own lake, the Albert Nyanza again. With the 
naked eye it did appear like the lake, but a field-glass revealed that it 
was a level grassy plain, white with the ripeness of its grass. Those who 
have read Sir Samuel Baker's " Albert Nyanza " will remember the pas- 
sage wherein he states that to the south-west the Nyanza stretches 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 793 

" inimitably." He might be well in error at such a distance, when our 
own people, with the plain scarcely four miles away, mistook the plain 
for the Nyanza. As the plain recedes south-westerly the bushes become 
thicker — finally acacias appear in their forests, and beyond these again 
the dead black thickness of an impenetrable tropical forest ; but the plain 
as far as the eye could command continued to lie ten to twelve miles, 
wide between these mountain barriers, and through the centre of it^ 
sometimes inclining towards the south-east mountains, sometimes to the 
south-western range — the Semliki River pours its waters towards the 
Albert Nyanza. 

In two marches from Buhoho we stood upon its banks, and alas ! for 
Mason Bey and Gessi Pasha had they but halted their steamers for half 
an hour to examine this river — they would have seen sufficient to excite 
much geographical interest. For the river is a powerful stream from 80 
to 100 yards wide, averaging nine feet depth from side to side, and hav- 
ing a current from 3^ knots to 4 knots per hour. In size it is about 
equal to two-thirds of the Victoria Nile. As we were crossing this river 
the Warasura attacked us from the rear with a well-directed volley, but 
fortunately the distance was too great. They were chased for some 
miles, but fleet as greyhounds they fled, so there were no casualties to 
report on either side. We entered the Awamba country on the eastern 
shore of the Semliki, and our marches for several days afterwards were 
through plantain plantations, which flourished in the clearings made in 
this truly African forest. Finally we struck the open country again im- 
mediately under Ruwenzori itself. 

A Great Snowy Range. 
Much, however, as we had flattered ourselves that we should see some 
marvellous scenery, the Snow Mountain was very coy and hard to see. 
On most days it loomed impending over us like a tropical storm cloud 
ready to dissolve in rain and ruin on us. Near sunset a peak or two here, 
a crest there, a ridge beyond, white with snow, shot into view — jagged 
clouds whirling and eddying around them, and then the darkness of 
night. Often at sunrise, too, Ruwenzori would appear, fresh, clear, 
brightly pure, profound blue voids above and around it. Every line and 
dent, knoll and turret-like crag deeply marked and cleary visible ; but 
presently all would be buried under mass upon mass of mist until the 
immense mountain was no more visible than if we were thousands of 
miles away. And then also, the snow mountain being set deeply in the 
range, the nearer we approached the base of the range the less we saw of 
it, for higher ridges obtruded themselves and barred the view. Still we 



794 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

have obtained three remarkable views, one from the Nyanza Plain, 
another from Kavalli^ and a third from the South Point. 

In altitudes above the sea I should estimate it to be between 18,000 
and 19,000 feet. We cannot trust our triangulations, for the angles are 
too small. When we were in position to ascertain it correctly the 
inconstant mountain gathered his cloudy blankets around him and hid 
himself from view, but a clear view from the loftiest summit down to the 
lowest reach of snow obtained from a place called Karimi makes me 
confident that the height is between the figures stated above. It took 
us 19 marches to reach the south-west angle of the range, the Semliki 
Valley being below us on our right, and which if the tedious mist had 
permitted would have been exposed in every detail. That part of the 
valley traversed by us is generally known under .the name ofAwamba, 
while the habitable portion of the range is principally denominated 
Ukonju. The huts of these natives, the Bakonju, are seen as high as 
8,000 feet above the sea. 

Climbing the African Alps. 

Almost all our officers had at one time a keen desire to distinguish 
themselves as the climbers of these African Alps, but unfortunately they 
were in a very unfit state for such a work. The Pasha only managed to 
get 1,000 feet higher than our camp; but Lieutenant Stairs reached the 
height of 10,077 feet above the sea, but had the mortification to find two 
deep gulfs between him and the Snowy Mount proper. He brought, 
however, a good collection of plants, among which were giant heather, 
blackberries, and bilberries. The Pasha was in his element among these 
plants, and has classified them. The first day we had disentangled our- 
selves of the forest proper and its outskirts of straggling bush, we looked 
down from the grassy shelf below Ruwenzori range, and saw a grassy 
plain, level seemingly as a bowling green — the very duplicate of that 
which is seen at the extremity of the Albert Nyanza — extending 
southerly from the forests. of the Semliki Valley. 

We then knew that we were not far from the Southern Lake dis- 
covered by me in 1877. Under guidance of the Wakonju, I sent Lieut. 
Stairs to examine the river said to flow from the Southern Nyanza. He 
returned next day, reporting it to be the Semliki River narrowed down 
to a stream forty-two yards wide and ten feet deep, flowing, as the canoe- 
men on its banks said, to the Nyanza Utuku or Nyanza of Unyoro, the 
Albert Nyanza. Besides native reports he had other corroborative evi- 
dence to prove it to be the Semliki. On the second march from the con- 
fines of Awavela we entered Usongora, a grassy region as opposite in 



STANLEY'S TRIUMPH. 795 

appearance from the perpetual spring of Ukonju as a draughty land 
could well be. This country bounds the Southern Nyanza on its 
northern and northwestern side. 

A Wonderful Salt Lake. 

Three days later, while driving the Warasura before us — or, rather, as 
they were self-driven by their own fears — we entered soon after its evac- 
uation the important town of Kative, the headquarters of the raiders. It 
is situated between an arm of the Southern Nyanza and a Salt Lake 
about two miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, which consists 
of pure brine of a pinky color, and deposits salt in solid cakes of salt 
crystals. This was the property of the Wasongora, but the value of its 
possession has attracted the cupidity of Kabrega, who reaps a considera- 
ble revenue from it. Toro, Aukori Mpororo Ruanda, Ukonju, and many 
other countries demand the salt for consumption, and the fortunate pos- 
sessor of this inexhaustible treasure of salt reaps all that is desirable of 
property in Africa in exchange with no more trouble than the defence of 
it. Our road from Kative lay E. and N. E. to round the bay-like exten- 
sion of the Nyanza, lying between Usongora and Unyanpaka, and it 
happened to be the same taken by the main body of the Warasura in 
their hasty retreat from the Salt Lake. On entering Uhaiyana, which is 
to the south of Toro, and in the Uplands we had passed the northern 
head of the Nyanza, or Beatrice Gulf, and the route of the south was 
open, not, however, without another encounter with the Warasura. 

A few days later we entered Unyanpaka, which I had visited in Jan- 
uary, 1876. Ringi, the king, declined to enter into the cause of Unyoro, 
and allowed us to feed on his bananas unquestioned. After following 
the lake shore until it turned too far to the south-west, we struck for the 
lofty uplands of Aukori, by the natives of whom we were well received 
— preceded as we had been by the reports of our good deeds in relieving 
the Salt Lake of the presence of the universally obnoxious Warasura. 
If you draw a straight line from the Nyanza to the Uzinga shores of the 
Victoria Lake it would represent pretty fairly our course through Aukori, 
Karagwe and Uhaiya to Uzinga. Aukori was open to us, because we 
had driven the Wanyoro from the Salt Lake. The story was an 
open sesame ; there also existed a wholesome fear of an expedition which 
had done that which all the power of Aukori could not have done. 
Karagwe was open to us because free trade is the policy of the Wan- 
yambu, and because the Waganda were too much engrossed with 
their civil war to interfere with our passage. Uhaiya admitted our 
entrance without cavil out of respect to our numbers, and because we 



796 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

were well introduced by the Wanyambu, and the Wakwiya guided us in 
like manner to be welcomed by the Wazinja. 

SuflPering"S From Fever. 

Nothing happened during the long journey from the Albert Lake to 
cause us any regret that we had taken this straight course, but we have 
suffered from an unprecedented number of fevers. We have had as many 
as 150 cases in one day. Aukori is so beswept with cold winds that the 
Expedition wilted under them. Seasoned veterans like the Pasha and 
Captain Casati were prostrated time after time, and both were reduced to 
excessive weakness like ourselves. Our blacks, regardless of their tribes, 
tumbled headlong into the long grass to sleep their fever fits off Some^ 
after a short illness, died; the daily fatigues of the march, an ulcer, a 
fit of fever, a touch of bowel complaint caused the Egyptians to bide in 
any cover along the route, and being unperceived by the rear-guard of 
the expedition, were left to the doubtful treatment of natives, of whose 
language they were utterly ignorant. In the month of July we lost 141 
of their number in this manner. 

Out of respect to the first British Prince who has shown an interest in 
African geography, we have named the Southern Nyanza — to distin- 
guish it from the other two Nyanzas, the Albert Edward Nyanza. It is 
not a very large lake. Compared to the Victoria, the Tanganyika, and 
the Nyassa, it is small, but its importance and interest lies in the fact 
that it is the receiver of all the streams at the extremity of the south- 
western or left Nile basins and discharges these waters by one river, the 
Semliki, into the Albert Nyanza, in like manner as Lake Victoria receives 
all streams from the extremity of the south-eastern or right Nile basin, 
and pours these waters by the Victoria Nile into the Albert Nyanza- 
These two Niles, amalgamating in Lake Albert, leave this under the well- 
known name of White Nile. 

Your obedient servant, 

Henry M, Stanley. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 
BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 

Th?; World Hears the News — Stanley and Emin Pasha Arrive at Mpwapwa — Newspa-^ 
pers Aglow With the Intelligence— Intense Interest of All Civilized People — Unfor- 
tunate Report of Emin's Death— General Rejoicings on Account of Emin's Safety — 
The New York Herald K^solves to Send a Relief Expedition— Captain Wissmann's 
Dispatch From Zanzibar — The German Government Rendering Every Possible 
Assistance— Stanley's Thrillmg Narrative — Incidents of the Homeward March — 
The Explorer in Perfect Health— Stanley's Summons to Conduct the Expedi- 
tion — "Twenty Various Little Commissions "—A Hero Who Shirked No Task — 
Great Geographical Discoveries— The Aruwimi Explored from its Source to Its 
Bourne — The Immense Congo Forest — "Cloud King" Wrapped in Eternal 
Snow — Connection Between Two Great Lakes — Traversing Ranges of Moun- 
tains — Under the Burning Equator— Fed on Blackberries — Six Thousand Square 
Miles of Water Added to Victoria Nyanza - Animals, Birds, and Plants — New 
Stores of Knowledge — The Hand of a Divinity — Events as They Occurred — Suf- 
ferings and Losses — "Horrible Forms of Men Smitten with Disease" — Sickening 
Sights — Death of a White Man— Emin Pasha and Jephson Threatened with In- 
stant Death — Prisoners in the Hands of the Mahdists — ^Jephson's Letters— Stan- 
ley's Faith in the Purity of His Own Motives — Guided By a Higher Power — Ter- 
rible Hardships of the March — "Agonies of Fierce Fevers ' ' — What Vulgar People 
Call Luck — Strange Things in Heaven and Earth— A Summary of Bravery — Un- 
complaining Heroism of Dark Explorers — Incentives to Duty — Stanley's Letter 
to the British Consul at Zanzibar — Number of Persons Brought Out of Central 
Africa — Fifty-nine Infant Travellers — Eighteen of the Pasha's People Lost — Bur- 
dens Increasing with Each Advance — Carrying the Helpless One Thousand Miles — 
Four Days' Fighting — Prejudice Against the Pasha Among the Natives — Talking 
of No Use — Valuable Discovery — Large Extension of a Lake— Mountainous 
Islands— Completeness of Stanley's Story — Review of the Expedition — Magnifi- 
cent Results — Immortal Fame of the Great Hero. 

N the 4th of December, 1889, the world rang with the news that 
Stanley and Emin Pasha, attended by several hundred others 
who had left Central Africa, had arrived on the East coast. 
This intelligence was hailed with every demonstration of 
delight, and the newspaper press throughout all civilized nations re- 
corded the fact that the great explorer had at last accomplished his 
task. 

Previous to this, on November 21st, the Emin Relief Committee in 
Berlin had received the welcome intelligence of Mr. Stanley's, arrival at 
Mpwapwa, in the territories of the German East African Protectorate. 
The intelligence of the intrepid Pasha's safety was hailed with greater 

(797) 




798 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

relief for the reason that, owing to an unfortunate telegraphic error, it 
was at first believed that he had perished. The dismay caused by this 
mistake was naturally great, especially as the Emperor was reported to 
have had confirmation of the sad news from the Imperial Commission. 
His Majesty was said to have at once communicated with the Relief 
Committee and to have evinced the deepest emotion. It seemed doubly 
tragic that the courageous Governor of the Equatorial Province should 
have perished, after all his wanderings and dangers, when almi)st within 
sight of home and on the borders of German territory. Happily the 
mistake was soon discovered, and served only to enhance the general 
rejoicing over the Pasha's safety. 

The Nev^ York Herald, with that generous spirit of enterprise which 
has always characterized it, resolved to meet the returning explorer with 
a relief expedition. Under date of November nth, it published the fol- 
lowing dispatch from its correspondent at Zanzibar : 

Zanzibar, Nov. lo, 1889. — Captain Wissmann has sent me word that I 
can go up country with my expedition to meet Mr. Stanley, and carry 
him supplies of tea, quinine, tobacco and other necessaries. Captain 
Wissmann will give me an escort in addition to my own men, but he says 
that I must fly the German flag. Captain Wissmann comes here from the 
coast to-night. The German government asked him yesterday to give 
me every assistance. 

Stanley's Thrilling Narrative. 
. The Herald published the following letter which describes the later 
incidents of the extraordinary march. 

Mr. Stanley says : First of all, I am in perfect health and feel like a 
laborer of a Saturday evening returning home with his week's work 
done, his week's wages in his pocket, and glad that to-morrow is the 
Sabbath. 

Just about three years ago, while lecturing in New England, a mes- 
sage came from under the sea bidding me to hasten and take a commis- 
sion to relieve Emin Pasha at Wadelai ; but, as people generally do with 
faithful pack horses,^ numbers of little trifles, odds and ends, are piled on 
over and above the proper burden. Twenty various little commissions 
were added to the principal one, each requiring due care and thought. 
Well, looking back over what has been accomplished, I see no reason 
for any heart's discontent. We can say we shirked no task and that 
good will, aided by steady effort, enabled us to complete every little job 
as well as circumstances permitted. 

Over and above the happy ending of our appointed duties we have 



BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 799 

not been unfortunate in geographical discoveries. The Aruwimi is now 
known from its source to its bourne. The great Congo forest, covering 
as large an area as France and the Iberian Peninsula, we can now certify- 
to be an absolute fact. The Mountains of the Moon this time, beyond 
the least doubt, have been located, and Ruwenzori, " The Cloud King," 
robed in eternal snow, has been seen and its flanks explored and some of 
its shoulders ascended. Mounts Gordon Bennett and Mackinnon Cones 
being but giant sentries warding off the approach of the inner area of 
" The Cloud King." 

On the southeast of the range, the connection between Albert Edward 
Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza has been discovered and the extent of 
the former lake is now known for the first time. Range after range of 
mountains has been traversed, sepai'ated by such tracts of pasture land 
as would make your cowboys out West mad with envy. And right 
under the burning equator we have fed on blackberries and bilber- 
ries and quenched our thirst with crystal water fresh from snow beds. 
We have also been able to add nearly 6,000 square miles of water to 
Victoria Nyanza. 

Our naturalist will expatiate upon the new species of animals, birds 
and plants he has discovered. Our surgeon will tell what he knows of 
the climate and its amenities. It will take us all we know how to say 
what new store of knowledge has been gathered from this unexpected 
field of discoveries. I always suspected that in the central regions 
between the equatorial lakes something worth seeing would be found, 
but I was not prepared for such a harvest of new facts. 
The Hand of a Divinity. 

This has certainly been the most extraordinary expedition I have ever 
led into Africa. A regular divinity seems to have hedged us while we 
journeyed. I say it with all reverence. It has impelled us whither it 
would, effected its own will, but nevertheless guided us and protected us. 

What can you make of this, for instance? On August 17, 1887, all 
the officers of the rear column are united at Yambuya. They have my 
letter of instructions before them, but instead of preparing for the mor- 
row's march, to follow our track, they decide to wait at Yambuya, which 
decision initiates the most awful season any community of men ever 
endured in Africa or elsewhere. 

The results are that three-quarters of their force die of slow poison. 
Their commander is murdered and the second officer dies soon after of 
sickness and grief Another officer is wasted to a skeleton and obliged 
to return home. A fourth is sent to wander aimlessly up and down the 



SOO WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

»■ 
Congo and the survivor is found in such a fearful pest hole that we dare 

not describe its horrors. 

Upon the same date, 150 miles away, the officer of the day leads 333 
men of the advanced column into the bush, loses the path and all con- 
sciousness of his whereabouts, and every step he takes only leads him 
further astray. His people become frantic ; his white companions, vexed 
and irritated by the sense of the evil around them, cannot devise any 
expedient to relieve him. Thev are surrounded by cannibals and poison 
tipped arrows thin their numbers. 

More Sufferings and liosses. 

Meantime I, in command of the river column, am anxiously searching 
up and down the river in four different directions ; through forests my 
scouts are seeking for them, but not until the sixth day was I successful 
in finding them. 

Taking the same month and the same date in 1888, a year later, on 
August 17th, I listen, horror-struck, to the tale of the last surviving offi- 
cer of the rear column at Banalya and am told of nothing but death and 
disaster, disaster and death, death and disaster. I see nothing but iior- 
rible forms of men smitten with disease, bloatedj disfigured and scarred, 
while the scene in the camp, infamous for the murder of poor Barttelot 
four weeks before, is simply sickening. 

On the same day, 000 miles west of this camp, Jameson, worn out 
with fatigue, sickness and sorrow, breathes his last. On the next day, 
August 1 8th, 600 miles ast, Emin Pasha and my officer Jephson, are 
suddenly surrounded by infuriated rebels who menace them with loaded 
rifles and instant death, but fortunately they relent and only make them 
prisoners, to be delivered to the Madhists. 

Emin's Peril. 

Having saved Bonny out of the jaws of death we arrived a second 
time at Albert Nyanza, to find Emin Pasha and Jephson prisoners in daily 
expectation of their doom. 

Jephson's own letters fully describe his anxiety. Not until both were 
in my camp and the Egyptian fugitives under our protection did I begin 
to see that I was only carrying out a higher plan than mine. My own 
designs were constantly frustrated by unhappy circumstances. I en- 
deavored to steer my course as direct as possible, but there was an un- 
accountable influence at the helm. 

I gave as much good will to my duties as the strictest honor would com- 
pel. My faith that the purity of my motive deserved success was first, but 
I have been conscious that the issues of every effort were in other hands. 



BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY S JOURNEY. 801 

Not one officer who was with me will forget the miseries he has en- 
dured, yet every one that started from his home destined to march with 
the advance column and share its wonderful adventures is here to-day 
safe, sound and well. This is not due to me. Lieutenant Stairs was 
pierced with a poisoned arrow like others, but others died and he lives. 
The poisoned tip came out from under his heart eighteen months after 
he was pierced. Jephson was four months a prisoner, with guards with 
loaded rifles around him. That they did not murder him is not due to me. 
Hardships of the March. 

These officers have had to wade through as many as seventeen streams 
and broad expanses of mud and swamp in a day. They have endured a 
sun that scorched whatever it touched. A multitude of impediments have 
ruffled their tempers and harassed their hours. 

They have been maddened with the agonies of fierce fevers; they have 
lived for months in an atmosphere that medical authority declared to 
be deadly. They have faced dangers every day, and their diet has been 
all through what legal serfs would have declared to be infamous and 
abominable, and yet they live. 

This in not due to me any more than the courage with which they 
have borne all that was imposed upon them by their surroundings or the 
cheery energy which they bestowed to their work, or the hopeful voices 
which rang in the ears of a deafening multitude of blacks, and urged the 
poor souls on to their goal. 

The vulgar will call it luck. Unbelievers will call it chance, but deep 
down in each heart remains the feeling that, of verity, there are more 
things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in common philosophy. 
A Summary of Bravery. 

I must be brief Numbers of scenes crowd the memory. Could one 
but sum them into a picture it would have a great interest. The uncom- 
plainmg heroism of our dark followers, the brave manhood latent in such 
uncouth disguise, the tenderness we have seen issuing from nameless en- 
tities, great love animating the ignoble, the sacrifice made by the unfor- 
tunate for one more unfortunate, the reverence we have noted in barba- 
rians, who, even as ourselves, were inspired with nobleness and incen- 
tives to duty, of all these we could speak if we would, but I leave that to 
the //'^r(3;/(a? correspondent who, if he has eyes to see, will see much for 
himself, and who with his gifts of composition, may present a very taking 
outline of what has been done, and is now near ending, thanks be to God 
forever and ever. Yours faithfully, 

Henry M. Stanley. 
61 



802 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

The following letter from Mr. Stanley relates the additional incidents 
of his homeward march. It was sent to Mr. Smith, Acting British 
Consul at Zanzibar. 

German Station, Mpwapwa, November ii, 1889. 

Dear Sir: — We arrived here yesterday on the fifty-fifth day from 
Victoria Nyanza and the iS8th day from the Albert Nyanza. We 
number altogether about 750 souls. At the last muster, three days ago, 
Emin Pasha's people numbered 294, of whom 59 are children, mostly 
orphans of Egyptian officers. The whites with me are Lieutenant Stairs, 
Captain Nelson, Mounteney Jephson, Surgeon Parke, William Bonny, 
Mr. Hoffman, Emin Pasha, Captain Casati, Signor Marco and a Tunisian, 
Vitu Hassan, and an apothecary. We have also Peres Girault and 
Schinze, of the Algerian mission. Among the principal officers of the 
Pasha are the Vakeers, of the Equatorial Province, and Major Awash 
Effendi, of the second battalion. 

Since leaving Victoria Nyanza we have lost eighteen of the Pasha's 
people and one native of Zanzibar, who was killed while we were parley- 
ing with hostile people. Every other expedition I have led has seen the 
lightening of our labors as we drew near the sea, but I cannot say the 
same of this one. Our long string of hammock bearers tells a different 
tale, and until we place these poor things on shipboard there will be no 
rest for us. The worst of it is we have not the privilege of showing at 
Zanzibar the full extent of our labors. After carrying the helpless 
1,000 miles, fighting to the right and left of the sick, driving Warasura 
from their prey, over range and range of mountains, with every energy 
on the full strain, they slip through our hands and die in their hammocks. 
One lady, seventy-five years of age, the old mother of the Valkiel, died 
in this manner in North Msukuma, south of Victoria Nyanza. 

Four Days' Fighting-. 

We had as stirring a time for four days as we had anywhere. For 
those four days we had continuous fighting during the greater part of 
daylight hours. The foolish natives took an unaccountable prejudice to 
the Pasha's people. They insisted that they were cannibals and had 
come to their country for no good. Talking to them was of no use. 
Any attempt at disproval drove them into white hot rage, and in their 
mad flinging themselves on us they suffered. « 

. I am advised that the route to the sea via Simba and Mwene is the 
best for one thing that specially appears desirable to me — an abundance 
of food. I propose to adopt that line. As regards the danger of an 
attack, this road seems to me to be as bad as another. 



BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 803 

We have rpade the unexpected discovery, of real value in Africa, of 
a considerable extension of the Victoria Nyanza to the southwest. The 
utmost southerly reach of this extension is south latitude 2° 48', which 
brings the Victoria Sea within 155 miles only from Lake Tanganyika. 

I was so certain in my mind that this fact was known through the 
many voyages of the Church Missionary Society to Uganda, that I do 
not feel particularly moved by it. Mackay, however, showed me the 
latest maps published by the society, and I saw that not one had even a 
suspicion of it. On the road here I made a rough sketch of it, and I 
find that the area of the great lake is now increased by this discovery to 
26,900 square miles, which is just about 1,900 square miles larger than 
the reputed exaggerations of Captain Speke. 

If you will glance at a map of the lake toward the southwest you will 
find that the coast line runs about northwest and east-southeast; but 
this coast line so drawn consists mainly of a series of large and moun- 
tainous islands, many of them well peopled, which overlap one another. 
South of these islands is a large body of water, just discovered Lake 
Uriji, also which Captain Speke so slightly sketched. It turns out to be 
a very j-espectable lake, with populated islands in it. 

I hope that we shall meet before long. 

I beg to remain your obedient servant, 

Henry M. Stanley. 

These reports from Mr. Stanley, containing the history of his journey, 
give a dramatic completeness to the story of his expedition. He has 
rescued Emin Pasha just when he stood in the sorest need of rescue. In 
the interval between his first and second meetings with Emin the latter's 
feeble dominion crumbled to pieces under the assaults of the Madhists. 
Emin's demoralized army was in full revolt, and Mr. Stanley, who was 
hastening back to the appointed rendezvous for the final operation of 
rescue, learned that there was no time to lose. Emin and Jephson had 
been prisoners for five months. Mr. Stanley pushed forward, waited 
for nearly a month to gather up all the fugitives, and then left the Albert 
Nyanza homeward bound. We have heard nothing so full nor so direct 
from him since the interesting letters published in April, 1889, in which he 
announced that he was setting forth on the final expedition towards 
Emin, of which we now know the triumphant result. These letters, writ- 
ten in August, 1888, broke the silence of fourteen months. Stanley had 
been lost to the world from June, 1887. He was again to be lost until 
the date of his very welcome message — despatched, of course, in advance 
by messengers to Zanzibar, and thence telegraphed to this country. 



804 V/ONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

He met Emin for the first, time in April, 1888, after struggling through 
the almost impenetrable forest described with such vivid force in his 
letters. He found Emin unwilling to return with him, but he left him to 
reconsider his determination while he went back towards the Aruwimi to 
look after his rear guard and to gather up his own supplies. He reached 
the station only to receive news of the direst disaster — the murder of 
Major Barttelot, the abandonment of the station — and the day after he 
received the news, though he was of course unaware of it at the time, 
Emin Pasha, at the other extremity of the line, fell into the power of the 
Mahdists. Stanley set out to join Emin without any knowledge, 
though perhaps not without some apprehension of the catastrophe, 
but he showed such diligence in his march that he was in time to act 
with decisive energy. The event crowns his wonderful enterprise in a 
becoming manner, and it will have an effect which everyone must have 
thought impossible — in adding even to his reputation for courage, for 
perseverance, and indomitable will. The rescue of Emin Pasha is glory 
enough for Stanley, and the world applauds his brilliant success. 
Emin's Love for His People. 

Emin took a prodigious time to make up his mind, and no wonder. 
He was still hoping against hope that he might recover his old authority 
and go on with his life work, the civilizing of the Equatorial Province, 
and with that of the whole Soudan. His was not the vacillation of the 
man who cannot choose between two courses of seemingly equal advant- 
age ; it was the reluctance of a devotee to give up what alone seemed to 
him to make life worth living. In all this Emin was perfectly consistent 
with himself It was no change of purpose at the last moment that made 
him cling to Central Africa ; he had always said that he would never 
leave it with his good will. It was not he that asked to be relieved, or, 
at any rate, to be relieved in the way suggested by his generous friends 
in England. His latest letter, it will be observed, ^written in the first 
flush of his gratitude, acknowledges only an appeal for " assistance for 
my people." Personally, he wished only to be helped to stay ; not to be 
helped to retire. There can be little doubt that, with all the chances 
against him, he would have preferred to remain — either to win his prov- 
ince back again to law and to civilization, or to leave his bones in the waste, 

A poet in want of a theme for a tragic soliloquy need ask for nothing 
more suggestive than Emin's reflections on quitting Africa. In the great 
venture that led him there for good, he had embarked his all of genius, 
energy, and hope. His devotion to his work led him to change his very 
name in order to remove all traces of his Prankish origin. From Dr. 



BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 805 

Edward Schnitzer he became Emin, or " the Faithful One," and he, in a 
manner, forgot his German origin in his perfect sympathy with his new 
compatriots. His province was in a frightful state when it came into 
his hands as the lieutenant of Gordon and the servant of the Khedive. 
In three or four years, he had reduced it to peace, contentment, and 
order ; banished the slave traders from his borders ; introduced agricul- 
ture and industry ; established a regular weekly post ; and turned a large 
deficit per annum into an immense surplus. When he could no longer 
hold it for the Khedive, he held it on his own account. He was in a fair 
way to become the Rajah Brooke of Central Africa, the pious founder of 
a State. "His whole heart," says Dr. Felkin, "seemed to be centred in 
the welfare of his people and the advancement of science, and no idea of 
fame appeared to enter his mind." 

Courag-eous to the Last. 

When Mr. Stanley found him the second time his glorious experiment 
had come to an end in unmistakable failure, and-he was a prisoner in 
the hands of his revolted troops. But mischances of much the same kind 
had happened to him before, and he had survived them all. 

His letters abound in stories of war and rumors of war, of treachery 
and revolt, and of all those accidents which must so largely checker the 
lot of a ruler of a semi-barbarous State set in the midst of utter barbar- 
ism. It is clear that he had the same hope of surviving them this time, 
and that Mr. Stanley's arrival presented him with the most painful alter- 
native ever submitted to his judgment and his feelings. Before, it had 
been merely a choice between victory and death. Now there was really 
no choice at all, for in gratitude to Mr. Stanley and to those who had 
sent him, he was compelled to accept the offer of retreat. No one is to 
blame, but one man assuredly is to be pitied, and that is the hero who 
has been brought back to unwelcome ease and safety from as glorious a 
field as ever tempted the spirit of man. 

African Barbarism Doomed. 

Stanley's history of his last great expedition is thoroughly character- 
istic of the man. It is full of thrilling interest, challenging our admiration 
for the writer and awakening a tearful sympathy with that company of 
heroes whose courage overstepped innumerable dangers. 

The hardships of this great journey will become a fading memory; its 
successes have already become historic. 

The Dark Continent is dark no longer. To Stanley and his undaunted 
comrades the world owes a debt of gratitude which it will be diffiult to 
repay. Africa has at last been opened up to the civilization of the future. 



806 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

Its vast tracts of wilderness will stimulate the enterprise of the pioneer, 
and the day is not far distant — within the lifetime of our children's 
children, perhaps — when the shrill echo of the engine's whistle will be 
heard on the rugged sides of snow-capped mountains which Stanley has 
explored; when those illimitable forests will resound with the woods- 
man's aXe, and when the law of commerce will change the tawny native 
from a savage into a self-respecting citizen. Barbarism will retire from 
its last stronghold on the planet, as the darkness disappears when the sun 
rises over the hilltops. Long life seems a boon when such a magnificent 
problem is in process of solution. 

Our readers will be impressed by the strong though underlying relig-, 
ious tone of the history. Stanley has been overmastered by the grandeur 
of his own achievement. He declares his belief that a higher power 
guided him through the perils which encompassed his little army. He 
builded better than he knew and better than he had planned, and attrib- 
utes it to the fact that "there is a divinity which shapes our ends, rough 
hew them as we will." 

The Unseen Power. 

This is not an unusual attitude for real greatness to assume. Under 
an Egyptian sky Napoleon followed the same train of thought and 
expressed the same conviction. What he found himself able to do was 
so much greater than his most ambitious dreams that he willingly 
shared the glory of his victories with that unseen Power which made 
him a Man of Destiny. Sg Stanley, hewing his way through hordes of 
cannibals, unscathed in scores of pitched battles, defying the most por- 
tentous diseases which a tropical climate can foster, accomplishing his 
purpose against infinite odds, and at last reaching the seacoast " in per- 
fect health," and feeling " like a laborer on a Saturday evening return- 
ing home with his week's work done, his week's wages in his pocket 
and glad that to-morrow is the Sabbath," brings the history to a close 
with the words, " Thanks be to God, forever and ever." 

The dire distresses of this long journey of two and a half years, are 
beyond the reach of language. He merely hints at some of them and 
leaves the rest to the imagination. We ponder his pathetic references to 
the sturdy loyalty of companions and followers, *' maddened with the 
agonies of fierce fevers," falling into their graves through the subtle 
poison with which the natives tipped their arrows and spears, bravely 
fighting their way through interminable swamps only to succumb at 
last, and the conviction steals over us that such a story has never been 
told before and may never be told again. 



BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY. 807 

The victories of peace are not far distant, and this Dark Continent 
will shake itself free from barbarism and start on a career of progress 
which will excite the admiration of the world. 

For this magnificent prospect we are indebted in part to the intrepid 
explorers who preceded Stanley, but mostly to Stanley himself. 
Grand Reception to Stanlej'. 

On December 5th, 1889, Stanley's party reached the coast, arriving at 
Bagamoyo at eleven o'clock in the morning. 

Major Wissmann had provided horses for Stanley and Emin, and upon 
them they made their triumphal entry into Bagamoyo. The town was 
profusely decorated. Verdant arches were built across all the avenues 
and palm branches waved from every window. A salute of nine guns 
was fired by Major Wissmann's force and the same number by the Ger- 
man man-of-war. All the officers of the expedition wers sumptuously 
entertained at a luncheon at Major Wissmann's headquarters. 

Emperor William of Germany sent greetings. A message of con- 
gratulation came from Leopold, King of Belgium. Her Majesty, Queen 
Victoria, soon forwarded a cordial dispatch, expressing satisfaction at 
Stanley's brilliant success. 

At a banquet in the evening Stanley was toasted, and in reply said he 
thanked God he had performed his duty. He spoke with emotion of 
his soldiers whose bones were bleaching in the forest, and remarked 
that with him and those of his party work was always onward. He 
bore testimony to the Divine influence that had guided him in his work. 

Emin Pasha's reception was extremely cordial. Unfortunately, owing 
to his poor eyesight, he met with a serious accident, and by falling from 
a balcony was more severely injured than he had been in all his wan- 
derings and conflicts. The world was moved to sympathy for his mis- 
fortune and hope for his recovery. 

On the 14th of December, 1889, the United States Government, through 
our Secretary of State, sent the following congratulatory message : 
" Stanley, Zanzibar ; — 

" I am directed by the President of the United States to tender his con- 
gratulations to you upon the success which has attended your long tour 
of discovery through Africa and upon the advantages which may accrue 
therefrom to the civilized world." 

From the extraordinary interest taken in Mr. Stanley's explorations 
and particularly in his last expedition, it is plain that he is regarded as 
something more than a geographical discoverer ; nor can it be said that 
his highest mission has consisted in rescuing those who were in peril, 



808 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. 

like Livingstone and Emin Pasha. Stanley's explorations have a broader 
and deeper meaning than this. He has done more than any other man 
to open the .heart of Africa, and to prepare the way for the onward 
march of civilization and those Christianizing influences which elevate 
nations, which tame savage races, which bring the blessings of education 
and refinement. It is only in the light of such results as these — results 
which are sure to be realized in the near future — that we can measure the 
meaning of Mr. Stanley's achievements in the Dark Continent. 

Stanley would be a great hero if he had done nothing more than save 
those whose lives were in danger ; nothing more than penetrate some of 
the mysteries of Africa; nothing more than cross the continent from 
sea to sea. Where one man with his brave band of devoted followers has 
gone, civihzation will march, and the path 'which our hero has marked 
through the wilderness will become the highway of empire. Great as is 
our hero's fame at the present time, it will be greater as the ages go by. 
When the wilds of Africa are wild no longer and the immense resources 
of that wonderful country have been developed, it will be acknowledged 
by all the nations of the globe that one of the chief agencies in this mag- 
nificent consummation was the intrepid explorer whose fortunes have 
been followed by all civilized nations. 

We who read the thrilling narrative ofthe foregoing pages, surrounded 
by all the comforts of life, are not really able to take in the situation ; we 
do not understand the length, the breadth, the height, the depth of it. 
We do not appreciate the imminent perils, the extreme privations, the 
agonizing sufferings which have attended the brave men who have sought 
the sources of the Nile, and by their daring exploits and heroic deeds 
have thrown back the curtains of mystery and have made the Continent 
of Africa one mighty object of wonder and interest. It may be ques- 
tioned whether Mr. Stanley himself has been able to weigh the value of 
his discoveries and the brilliancy of his exploits. Not a general, he was 
more than a general ; not a fortune seeker, he has brought a fortune to 
the world ; not a conquerer of kingdoms, he has marked the way and 
laid out the ground for kingdoms whose glory will be equal to that of 
any of the empires famed in history. 

It is fitting, therefore, that the dignitaries of the earth, the crowned 
heads of Europe and a nation like ours, where all men are crowned, 
should preserve the fame, admire the successes, and tell the magnificent 
results of Stanley's 'heroic deeds. 



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